The New Roommate
by FoolForSpuffy147
Summary: What if Buffy had a different roommate in Season 4? Instead of a soul-sucking demon, Buffy's new roommate smooths the course of true love for the Scooby gang. AU Seaon 4, eventual Spuffy.
1. Chapter 1: Meet Althea

Buffy meets her new roommate. Scenes taken from "The Freshman."

Betaed by SlayerDaniWho and Ellie Sutcliffe. Any changes and mistakes made to the story that weren't done by them are my own.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Buffy stood for a moment outside the door to her new dorm room and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It was move-in day—classes started tomorrow—and she was meeting her new roommate for the first time.

As she walked into her dorm room, she was surprised, yet glad to see that her roommate hadn't unpacked anything yet. Buffy took a good look at her roommate. She was astonished to find the one girl in Southern California who was shorter than her. The astonishment turned to relief as she noted a friendly smile and a similar hint of nerves mirrored on the girl's pretty face.

Her new roommate had long, curly dark hair, olive skin, and blue-gray eyes. She had a bump on the bridge of her nose, but the bump was as small as the other features on her face. She wore a red t-shirt with a white heart, jeans, and sneakers.

"Hi! You must be Althea." Buffy said.

Althea nodded. "It's nice to meet you. Buffy, right?"

"Yeah. Um. Have you picked your side of the room yet?"

"I kind of wanted to wait until you came so we could work together on that. I wanted to start things off on the right foot. First impressions are important, after all."

Buffy smiled at Althea. "Thanks for being all thoughtful. I've been kind of overwhelmed at everything."

"I get you. I'm under a lot of pressure from my parents to do well. I think I already embarrassed myself enough at orientation."

"Ugh. I totally humiliated myself earlier at the bookstore. And in front of this cute guy, too."

"What happened?"

"I kind of spilled a bunch of books over his head."

"Ouch."

"And my best friend is basically reveling in being part of this new college world."

"Look at it this way, today you made a new friend. At least, I hope we can become friends, right?"

"Yeah. I think we'll get along fine."

Althea sighed in relief as she put up a poster. It was a copy of Botticeli's The Birth of Venus.

In spite of the fact that she had to adjust to not talking about Slayer-related stuff while arranging things in her new dorm, Buffy felt that Althea could be a great roommate. Through the course of the day, she discovered that Althea shared her love of chocolate, but not her shoe obsession, which meant more room for Buffy's shoes. And to her delight, her roommate wasn't a snorer, either.

###

A few days later, Buffy walked into her dorm with a note in her hand.

"Are you okay?" Althea asked.

"Not really. I finally met a guy I felt I could get along with and he goes missing. He was in my Psych class."

"Is this the same guy you dropped books onto?"

Buffy shook her head. "Different guy."

"Well if it helps, just remember that I'll be here for you if you need me."

"Awesome. I was kind of planning on going to the Bronze with my friends. Do you want to meet them?"

"You mean come with you?"

"Yeah."

Althea smiled. "Okay."

###

Althea stood behind Buffy as she looked at the couples, looking around for some kind of familiar face.

"Xander! Althea, this is my friend, Xander. He just came back from a road trip across America."

"It's nice to meet you," Althea said. "I'm gonna get something to drink. Do you guys want anything?"

"Just soda, please."

Althea nodded and went to the bar. She ordered three sodas and sat down at the barstool. She adjusted the ring she wore on her left pointer finger and took a deep breath. The stone on the ring changed from white to a lovely emerald color. "Just friends on her end…" She looked at Xander as the color of the stone remained unchanged. "…and on his end." She reached into her purse and took out a mirror.

Speaking in Greek, Althea said, "Mirror, reveal the hearts of those I see."

Images of Buffy and Xander's love lives played out in Althea's mirror. Her eyes widened as she saw how Xander chose not to deal with the responsibility of his actions. She saw Buffy's romance with the vampire named Angel and Xander's relationship with Cordelia as well as his feelings for Willow.

"Mirror, reveal the fates to those who seek the blessing of Aphrodite."

She saw an image of Buffy meeting a dark-haired guy named Parker and then a blonde TA named Riley. Two more images showed up: one of Buffy beating Parker over the head with a stick and another of Riley leaving on a helicopter with Buffy crying from a helipad. Then she saw an image of Xander having sex with a dark-haired girl named Anya and then another image of him proposing to the same dark-haired woman.

"So I guess I'll keep Buffy single for now and make sure that Xander will see things through with this Anya girl," Althea said. She slid off her stool, grabbed the three cups of soda, and tipped the bartender with a five-dollar bill from her pocket.

She walked back to Xander and Buffy. Xander was starting to quote _Star Wars_.

"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to…"

"Suffering," Althea finished Yoda's words. "Here are your sodas."

"Right she is. And I am impressed, fair Jedi," Xander said with a smile and an appreciative bow. He took two of the cups, passing one to Buffy. "Thanks."

The three sat in companionable silence, watching the band and bobbing their heads with the rhythm. A little while later, the band announced they were taking a break and Althea, Buffy, and Xander stood to leave.

"Um…Althea, can you tell Willow and Oz that Xander and I are taking a walk around campus?"

"We're kind of part of the Neighborhood Watch group," Xander said.

"Okay."

Althea returned to the dorm to find a girl and guy, both of them redheads, standing over Buffy's empty bed. The two were alternating between staring at a handwritten note and looking at each other in confusion.

"Well that's an interesting conundrum," said the girl, her eyes opened wide. "Think it's time to start wigging?"

Peering over the boy's shoulder at the note in his hand, Althea was able to catch a few phrases: "Stressed. Leaving school. Going home. Buffy."

"That note is a fake!" Althea said. "I was just with Buffy at the Bronze."

"What?" the redheaded girl asked.

"Sorry to introduce myself under these circumstances, but I'm Buffy's roommate, Althea Cygnus. Buffy told me to tell you that she and Xander are taking a walk around campus as part of the Neighborhood Watch."

"I'm Willow, and this is my boyfriend, Oz. We're Buffy's friends."

"It's nice to meet you."

"That's such a relief," Willow said, relaxing her soulders. "Buffy must really like you if she took you out to the Bronze. I wasn't so lucky in the 'this is who I'm living with' lottery."

"You told me you were getting along with Kathy, though, weren't you?" Oz asked.

"Yeah. She's okay. Just a little neurotic, though."

"Anyway, I think we can wait here until Buffy comes back," Althea said. "And I can get to know my roommate's friends."

Buffy and Xander returned a while later with Buffy's things in tow, finding Althea watching a movie with Oz and Willow. The three of them helped Buffy re-arrange her things.

"What's that umbrella?" Althea asked.

"That's a gift from my high school prom."

"It's broken!" Althea took out tape from her dresser. "Here."

"Thanks, Althea. These…delinquents Xander and I ran into were totally inconsiderate."

"I get that. I used to work as a waitress."

"So what movie were you guys watching?"

"A foreign film from Greece," Willow said.

"It's my movie," Althea clarified. "I'm Greek. In the cultural sense. But God keep me from the sororities."

Althea took the tape out of the VCR.

"We just finished this movie," she said. "but I've got another one if we all want to watch together."

Buffy smiled. "I think that would be a great idea."

Buffy fixed the umbrella and displayed it proudly on her bookshelf. Althea put in _Hercules in New York_ in the VCR and a bag of popcorn in the microwave. She looked over at Buffy, who met her eye and smiled briefly at her before she turned back to listen as Buffy and Xander quietly relayed the events of the night to Oz and Willow.

"Buffy, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Althea said to herself.

* * *

If you figure out or already know what exactly Althea is, don't say so in the reviews yet! I will give further explanation on Althea is in future chapters. Spike will appear in the next chapter and the Spuffy fluff won't happen quite yet...but hang in there!


	2. Chapter 2: Something There

Betaed by Danielle (Slayerdaniwho), Bunnyfer, and Ellie Sutcliffe.

Anya won't appear until the next chapter. Assume that her ineractions with Xander happen as they did in canon.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 2: Something There

A few nights after Buffy had disposed of the campus "delinquents," she and Althea had been startled awake in the middle of the night by a panicked Willow. The redhead — who had been acting really strange in days leading up — had whipped open their door, screamed her best friend's name and stood urgently beckoning Buffy to her dorm room.

Flinging aside the covers, Buffy told Althea to go back to bed and promised she'd return soon, then she raced down the hall and into Willow's room. Soon she found herself face-to-face — and eventually fist-to-fist — with a demon who was once Willow's roommate, Kathy.

In the hopes of avoiding a return trip to her home dimension, the 3000-year-old Mok'tagar demon had been slowly disguising her own absent soul by sucking out Willow's over the last few nights. A suspicious and light-sleeping Willow had opened her eyes to find her roommate towering over her, and only moments before it was too late.

With some magical help from Giles and a surprise visit from Kathy's dad, the crisis was eventually averted.

_Just another day in the life of an exhausted slayer slash college student,_ Buffy thought with a grimace, walking back to her dorm and then falling into bed. She'd purposely avoided registering for early morning classes, but even the ones later in the day were rough after an especially lengthy night of slaying.

###

Lack of sleep aside, things got back to normal, or as normal as things ever got in Sunnydale.

Buffy discovered that a comfortable friendship was blossoming between her and Althea, and the Slayer regularly invited her roommate to spend time out with her and the Scoobies.

Tonight, the invitation meant meeting at the Bronze to listen to Oz's band play. Buffy, Willow and Xander sat at their usual high-top table, shouting over the din as the Dingoes launched into yet another song.

"Gee, Wills, I still can't believe that you shared a room with a soul-sucking demon," Xander said. "You weren't lying about the whole, 'Kathy's neurotic' thing, were ya?"

"Tell me about it. It's a good thing you woke up when you did, and that Giles and I were able to help you in time," Buffy said.

Willow laughed nervously, then glanced down at her soda and stirred the ice with her plastic straw. "I'm just glad you guys were okay with me bringing my new roommate here," Willow said. She looked over to the bar at a girl with wavy dishwater blonde hair who stood talking with Althea. "She's a witch, too."

Xander smiled as he looked in the same direction. "Cool."

"Yeah, Will, that's really cool," agreed Buffy. "She looks nice."

"We're just doing small spells together right now," replied Willow. Then she nodded. "But, yeah, she's really cool."

Seeing that she held the table's attention, Tara turned and waved Althea to walk back to Willow, Buffy, and Xander's table with her.

"I guess we can say you were _myth_-taken on that part," Althea was saying.

Tara giggled shyly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Willow asked.

"Greek mythology," Althea said as she stood next to Buffy. "Tara and I are in a class together and we just read the myth of Cupid and Psyche. We were talking about the discussion we had in class the other day."

"I never understood Cupid," Buffy said. "This half-naked, little, chubby guy...flitting all over the place...shooting at people with a bunch of pointy arrows... Why the heck would he force someone to love or not love someone else?"

"Aren't Cupid's arrows just supposed to explain how love can be all…I don't know...crazy and unpredictable?" Xander said sheepishly, almost blushing.

"That's actually a common misconception about Cupid," Althea said. "A lot of people think that Cupid's arrows force emotions. In my culture, the arrows are seen as emotional catalysts. They don't force emotions onto people so much as reveal something that a person's already feeling subconsciously. It sort of brings it up to the surface...a form of subliminal suggestion."

"What about those myths where someone gets struck with a lead arrow and all they want to do is run away?" Willow asked as Tara walked to stand next to her.

"Myths like the one where Apollo chases a girl who changes into a laurel tree are told with hyperbole for comical purposes. Like...people don't actually believe you're gonna eat a whale, but when you say you're hungry enough to do it, it gets the whole starvation message across. Right?"

"I-i-i-n the case of Cupid and Psyche, Cupid was struck with his own arrow," Tara stammered. "Althea t-t-t-told me that Cupid already found Psyche attractive and that he struck himself with his own arrow on purpose."

"Huh," Buffy said, considering Althea's words. "I never thought of it that way."

"It's just a magical form of the power of suggestion, that's all," Althea said. "And just like with anything else, it can be used for good or evil."

The friends all silently agreed, each of them remembering a number of times they'd witnessed great power turn into great evil.

Willow shook herself out of the reverie and smiled at Althea. "That's neat that you guys are in a class together. I wonder if you're in any of mine. Are you taking Maggie Walsh's psychology class?" Willow asked.

Althea shook her head. "I have it with a different professor."

The room quieted down as Dingoes Ate My Baby started another song, one that called for wild dancing. Many of the teens and college students flocked out to the dance floor.

"Buffy, is that Parker Abrams walking this way?" Althea asked, looking out at the dance floor.

"Yeah. Why?"

Before Althea could say anything, Parker greeted Buffy.

"Hey Buffy" Parker said. "I was thinking of how awesome this song is. If you want to come to the dance floor..."

Althea looked at Parker. The ring on her finger turned from white to chartreuse green.

"Why don't I dance with you instead?" Althea asked. "After all, it's the 21st century and we girls can all dance without men, can't we?" She banged Buffy's knee.

A bit confused at the obvious suggestion, but deciding to go with it, Buffy nodded. "Althea's right," Buffy agreed. "We're kind of having a girls' night out right now. No boys allowed, sorry."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized Xander was sitting at the table, too. _Nice job lying, Buffy,_ she thought to herself. _You dope._

Parker didn't seem to pick up on the flub. "Okay. Well, there's this party at Wolf Hall later this week. I hope I see you there."

Buffy smiled sweetly at Parker, nodded and waved as he walked away. Once she had seen him leave the Bronze, Buffy's smile ceased and she whipped her head around to face Althea.

"Okay, Ms. 21st Century Protection Services, spill. What's going on? I have been hanging out and working on him for more than a week, ergo it was time to flirt!"

"Yeah, well, he's in my English Lit class," Althea said. She grimaced at she looked at the door Parker had just exited. "He was hitting on this girl last week, talking all about how he hated living a life filled with regret. Started quoting Dead Poets Society to her...stuff about carpe diem, seizing the day and all that. Next couple days, suddenly she's not showing up to class...and what does he do? He's sitting there bragging to all the guys around him about how easy that girl was. What a jerk."

Buffy's eyes widened before her expression turned to embarrassment, then she looked down at her shoes. Taking a breath, Buffy looked up again and touched three fingers to her forehead before speaking.

"Oh, god." It came out like a whine. "I almost did something uber stupid, didn't I?"

Althea nodded. "But you didn't, don't worry. We'll leave with Oz, Xander, Willow, and Tara in a little bit. Let's just dance, okay?"

"Good idea." Buffy, Althea, Willow, and Tara walked out to the dance floor, leaving Xander to watch their table. As Buffy relaxed with the music, she glanced over towards the bar again. She saw a familiar face and turned to Althea. "Hey, by the way, see that cute guy over there?"

"Who?"

Trying to avoid being super obvious, Buffy tilted her head towards the direction she'd been looking.

"The one with the straight brownish-blonde hair? Kinda farm boy, All-American-looking guy?" Althea asked.

"Yeah, that's the one. That's Riley. He's the TA in my psychology class. You know, the one I spilled the books on?"

Not certain if the scenes she'd witnessed in the mirror a few days ago were possibilities or reality, Althea simply shrugged her shoulders. "He's okay, I guess. If you like the Smallville types and all."

"Oh? What kind of type do you like then?" Buffy raised her eyebrows and smirked at Althea.

"Less Abercrombie. A bit more street-smart and lean." Althea scrunched up her nose before continuing. "And anyways, I don't think those muscles came from time spent out in the farm or the gym."

Buffy shrugged and went back to enjoying the music and sneaking peeks at Riley. _Small-town farm boy or not, he's still a hottie._

A little while later, after the band had played their final set, Buffy, Althea, Xander, Willow, and Tara helped the Dingoes pack all of their stuff into the van. Unbeknownst to the five of them, a girl with long, curly blonde hair watched them at a distance from the darkened lot behind the Bronze.

Oz slid the door shut with a clang at the same time the blonde girl's forehead started to ripple. She vamped out and broke into a run towards the five friends, then her forward momentum was halted suddenly. The blonde felt a sharp pain at her upper back and she pulled her fanged mouth back in a wince. Her face took on a shocked expression and she fell to the ground while violent shaking wracked her body. A few seconds later, she'd passed out.

Two masked men dressed in full combat gear emerged from the shadows, one of them holding a taser gun that was still implanted in the blonde vampire's shoulder blade. They lifted the unconscious vampire, each grabbing an arm, and together dragged her into the alley and out of sight.

###

The next day, as Althea walked to her psychology class, she heard her name being whispered from within an empty classroom a few doors down. Walking slowly inside, she was pleased to find a beautiful woman with long, flowing strawberry blonde hair standing behind the desk.

"Good morning, Althea," the strawberry blonde said.

"Hail, fair goddess, Aphrodite," Althea said, bowing slightly.

The goddess smiled in acknowledgement, gently gathered her long hair into a loose ponytail at her nape and then draped the curtain of living silk over her shoulder. "I've come in to check on your progress."

"Indeed, my lady." Althea nodded again in respect. "So far, I've kept Buffy away from Parker Abrams. And I wasn't all that impressed with that country bumpkin, Riley. But, fair Aphrodite..." Althea took a deep breath, struggling to keep the whining out of her voice, "I so long for an oracle's full omniscience. There's no one — I mean, _no one_ — that I know right now that seems to be a suitable mate for Buffy."

"You've yet to meet Buffy's first love." Aphrodite's voice was quiet and soothing, her face calm and serene.

Althea huffed. "I've seen him in Buffy's past. The vampire with a soul." Althea resisted the urge to use air quotes.

The goddess nodded once in agreement. "You will get your chance to meet him soon enough, I promise. In the meantime, there is another candidate for your golden arrow coming here."

"Who?"

"You will know him when he mentions my ring." When Althea's expression turned to confusion, Aphrodite continued. "I have placed something valuable in a treasure trove underground in Sunnydale. Follow after whoever mentions my ring, the Gem of Amara, and make sure that you don't leave until you have the ring in your hand. You are allowed to give it to Buffy...and only Buffy."

"What's so special about that ring?" Althea asked.

"Persephone and I created it for Psyche as her wedding ring after she passed the trials we put her through. It makes its wearer like a god, invulnerable to death, but not immortal."

Realization dawned on Althea. "So if a vampire were to wear this ring, he could walk out into the sun and not get burned?" She considered the ramifications a bit further. "And stakes and crosses and beheading wouldn't work on him?"

"Yes," Aphrodite affirmed with a sigh. "That was Persephone's part and a gift to whoever wears the jewel. My part of the ring, however, only activates when the ring is blessed by a Cupid or myself. If you choose to bless the ring, the person who wears the ring will fully realize their hearts' desire."

Althea's eyes widened with excitement. "Buffy could really use that."

"Yes, she could. And those who seek that ring will be the ones you judge as candidates for Buffy's heart. I've planted clues about the Gem of Amara for them to find." Aphrodite walked around the desk and sat down on the edge so her sparkling eyes were at the same level as Althea's.

"Yikes. A scavenger hunt." Althea knew immediately this one was going to get interesting. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "But what if one of the candidates would rather destroy the ring?"

"Then they are not worthy of your charge." Aphrodite dismissed the possibility with a flip of her hand.

Nodding once in agreement, Althea took a deep breath. "I will report back to you as soon as I get the ring, fair goddess."

"Good." Aphrodite straightened up, flipped her hair back over her shoulder and smoothed out her flowing skirt. Satisfied that she was perfectly coifed and pleated, she looked at Althea once more and spoke. "You will meet your candidate tonight, at a party in Wolf House."

The party that stupid dope, Parker, invited Buffy to. Great. But Althea only nodded respectfully, turned and then left the classroom

###

It didn't take much for Althea to convince Buffy to go to the party at Wolf House Tuesday night. Willow was busy with homework and Xander was helping Anya move into his house, so Buffy and Althea went by themselves. Althea saw Parker at the punch bowl and glared at him. She knew from the leering gaze in his eyes that he had no desire to stay away from Buffy, but she hoped that as long as Buffy had company, Parker wouldn't approach.

"I thought you said I should stay away from Parker?" Buffy smirked.

"Never said we were coming to see him," replied Althea, looking around the busy dorm lounge as a crowd seemed to grow by the second.

"Nice party going on," Buffy said. She smiled across the sea of faces as her eyes met other students she knew.

"I think we might be past fashionably late though," Althea said. "Some guys are already starting to pass out."

Althea pointed towards the back exit of Wolf House. One of the frat boys was being dragged out by a bleach blond man in a leather duster.

"Buffy, who's that guy in the black leather jacket?" Althea asked.

Buffy's eyes widened in surprise, then her whole face seemed to scrunch together in disgust. It was clear to Althea that she was familiar with the leather-clad man.

"I'll be right back," Buffy said with a huff.

Althea nodded, but followed Buffy so she remained just close enough to listen in on their conversation.

"What the hell are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy asked. "Drusilla still screwing you over for fungus demons?"

"If you must know, pet," Spike retorted, "I'm in town looking for the Gem of Amara and found myself feeling a bit peckish. I thought I'd stop and get something to eat along the way."

Althea stood off in the corner and focused her mind on Spike. The ring on her pointer finger changed from white to red. She looked at Buffy and changed her mind's focus onto her. Althea looked at her ring and was surprised that it remained unchanged.

Red was the color of emotion...the strongest, purest of human emotions.

In the hundreds of years she'd been doing this job, she'd only heard stories of Cupids finding such intense matches that caused rings to glow like flaming red orbs. She'd never seen it actually happen, and the bright red of her ring seemed to shine so steadily...so equally bright red for both Buffy and Spike.

Althea struggled to keep her excitement down. This could be big. _Calm down, you silly goose. It can mean anything from lust to hate,_ Althea reminded herself. _No need to get your panties in a bunch and get your hopes all up and floaty. _

Needing the reassurance of additional magical evidence, Althea stepped away from her eavesdropping and moved into the bottom of a stairwell. She removed a large hand mirror from her handbag as she turned back to look at the stunning blonde pair.

Althea murmured over the noise of the party in fluent Greek. "Mirror, reveal to me what connects the hearts of Buffy and Spike."

The glass began playing out a year's worth of interactions in a movie-like montage, beginning with the moment Buffy and Spike first met. Even as Althea looked back at them, she saw images of Buffy and Spike parading through her head: the church fight that left Spike paralyzed under a massive organ...Buffy's mom knocking Spike over the head with an axe...Buffy, Spike and Angel battling the Mayor's vampires.

Like Angel, Spike was a vampire, but he didn't have a soul. It was also clear that Spike was physically attracted to the Slayer and that Buffy viewed him as a worthy opponent. What caught Althea's attention, however, was the automatic, perfectly synchronized and mirrored interaction between Buffy and Spike as they fought together against Angelus's band of vampires.

Althea saw Buffy walking towards her, so she quickly put the mirror back in her purse.

"Hey, Althea, are you gonna be okay if I get out of here?" Buffy asked her roommate.

"Yeah, sure, why?" Althea asked.

"Uh, I'm gonna go visit an old friend."

"More Neighborhood Watch stuff?"

"Something like that," agreed Buffy. "Listen, that guy you saw me talking to? He's not good news. He actually attacked my high school this one time."

"Oh, yeah. I remember reading something about a gang on PCP in the papers." Althea waited for Buffy to continue.

"Yeah. That was him. He's not exactly..." Buffy seemed to be considering her thoughts, but offered nothing more to the conversation. She smiled and turned, walking towards and then out the door.

Althea nodded as her friend left and smiled, turning her attention back to the leather-clad platinum blond. _Yeah, Buffy,_ Althea thought, _I get the idea he's not exactly what you think he is. _

As Buffy left the party, Althea looked up the stairwell and then at the party. Remembering Aphrodite's instructions to follow anyone who mentioned the ring, she was relieved when Spike didn't stick around long after Buffy left. She turned herself invisible, unbeknownst to the partygoers.

_Guess it's time for a little game of Follow the Vampire._

After only a few minutes following Spike, Althea watched as he entered and emerged from a cave, and then returned to the sewers. She removed her mirror from her purse.

"Mirror, reveal to me the heart of Spike."

The mirror showed her Spike's romantic past. In all of her years as a Cupid, Althea has helped a good number of vampires find love, but she never saw a vampire that was so open to love as Spike was. It was clear who she had to work with first.

Althea then watched as the mirror showed Spike digging — and then finding — a wealth of treasure buried deep under Sunnydale, then watched him slide the ring onto his finger before stashing it back among the other treasures.

Having gotten a glimpse from what took place only moments earlier, Althea carefully climbed into the cave and looked around. She spotted the gold ring with a green gemstone gleaming amongst the pile of other baubles and pocketed it before sneaking out of the cave.

Once she felt she was in a safe area, she turned visible and took out her mirror.

"Mirror, reveal the fates of those who seek the will of Aphrodite."

She saw Spike holding Buffy in his arms—clearly romantically, as if he was saving her life from something. Buffy was, in return, looking at Spike with a mix of confusion, awe, gratitude...and clearly an untapped potential for great love.

She also saw Spike and Buffy in a bathroom, looking with absolute hate at each other.

"Don't think I didn't smell you followin', luv," a husky British voice said from behind her. "I believe you've somethin' o'mine."

Althea quickly put the mirror in her purse and looked back to see Spike stalking towards her and was immediately aware that she couldn't escape the vampire. There was only one thing that Althea could do.

She spoke a phrase in Greek and a white bow with a matching quiver full of white arrows appeared in her hands. As Spike walked closer towards her, she took an arrow from the quiver, released the arrow from the bow, and watched as it pierced Spike's heart. A white light surrounded the both of them.

A white light shone from Spike's chest where the arrow hit him and disappeared along with Althea. The Cupid reappeared in an empty classroom, thinking about the thought that the arrow planted in Spike's head.

"This is gonna to be fun," Althea said laughing.

###

Spike disappeared into the sewers, unaware of his surroundings. All thoughts of the mysterious archer were far away. All he could see were images of Buffy in his mind. Every fantasy he ever had about having a dance with the blonde Slayer, bathing in her blood, carving another notch in his Slayer belt...it all gave way to his other fantasies of shagging her to death.

Only without the death.

One thought rang throughout his head: _What's the only thing better than killing a Slayer?_

* * *

Chapter End Notes:

Thanks to everyone who liked and reviewed this fic! Remember, no spoilers about Althea. Just say "I knew it!" or "Called it!" Feedback is welcome, however, especially since I'll be tackling the filler episodes next chapter.

Next time, Althea and Spike become friends, Anya appears on the scene, and the Scooby gang (Althea and Tara included) face their worst nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3: Bad Moon Rising

This is when things start getting AU. Events in this chapter are based on Fear Itself, Wild at Heart, and Beer Bad. Yes in that order. This chapter is also Willow-Centric, but Xander, Anya, Tara, and Spike will make appearances. Assume that the stuff relating to the haunted house happened as canon.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

For the students at UC Sunnydale, the beginning of October meant prepping for midterms. Buffy was busy keeping a balance between studying and slaying, so much so that Parker Abrams decided to move on to other girls.

Althea, however, had to follow up on her arrow's latest target. Telling Buffy that she was off to classes, Althea went to the cave Spike had made his lair. Using her invisibility, she entered the cave quietly and marveled at the sight of Spike, sitting in front of a mannequin with a blonde wig, and then pacing around as if he was trying to find the right words to say. She giggled.

"Who's there?" Spike asked.

Althea made herself visible, still giggling.

"What in bloody hell did you do to me?" Spike said, pinning Althea to the wall.

"Oh, just thought I could have a little fun." Althea said. "College can be so boring sometimes."

"You are definitely not human. But you're not a demon, either."

Althea shook her head and pushed Spike off of her. "If you must know, I am a Cupid. Althea Cygnus, servant of Aphrodite and love-archer extraordinaire!"

"Well next time you shoot, can you actually kill me? It's bad enough that you took my desire to kill the Slayer away."

"Oh Spikey-wikey," Althea replied in a falsely sympathetic voice. "I didn't erase your desire to kill the Slayer. I merely catalyzed your lust for her."

"I hate it! She's all I bloody think about," Spike kept pacing, his voice becoming more desperate. "She's in my gut, my throat. I am drowning in the Slayer."

Spike brought his hand on his forehead and massaged his temples for a moment, then resumed his distracted march around the cave.

"Her name is Buffy, by the way. You might want to remember that." Althea waited a few moments for a response, but Spike only glared at her silently for a split second before looking away.

Satisfied that her arrow worked, Althea smiled to herself and left to celebrate her victory by dancing her heart out at the Bronze.

###

Althea was very sure that the lead singer of the Bronze's band of the week, Shy, was some kind of siren. How else was she able to get the attention of every guy in the room, even the taken and gay ones? What's worse is that she was staring at one of them-Willow's boyfriend, Oz. Althea focused her mind on Shy's lead singer.

The ring's color changed from white to a dark, blood red. It wasn't the same bright red that Althea saw with Buffy and Spike. Blood red always meant lust, the animalistic kind. Althea then looked to Oz and Willow. Althea wasn't sure whether she should interfere with their relationship.

_Maybe I'll check the mirror later._ Althea thought, shaking her head. _It's silly to think that Oz could cheat on Willow._

But Althea quickly grew suspicious when, after Shy finished their show, Oz went up to the band and introduced himself to the lead singer, Veruca.

_Veruca? Like the spoiled brat on Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory?_ Althea scoffed. But then she noticed something. The way that Veruca led with her shoulders, walking like a huntress, and how Oz sort of had a subtle version of the same stride. Althea looked to Willow, who stood at the sidelines with an expression of worry.

"Willow?" Althea said.

"Oh! Althea!" Willow said. "I totally didn't see you there. What's going on?"

"I just thought I'd have a night out on my own." Althea gave Willow a cautious smile, moving slightly to catch the redhead's eye. She filled her voice with concern. "Are you okay?"

Willow shook her head dejectedly.

"How about I walk you back to your dorm?"

"That's okay!" Willow said with a half-smile. "Oz will take me back."

"Okay," Althea figured it was best not to push the redhead. "Well, I'll be here in case you change your mind."

Althea went up to the rarely used balcony area and took out her mirror.

"Mirror, reveal to me the heart of Willow Rosenberg."

The mirror played out Willow's short but tender romantic history: her crush on Xander, her relationship with Oz, cheating on Oz with Xander and then eventually making up with the werewolf.

She put away her mirror and looked back at Willow, noting that the girl's attention remained focused on Oz and Veruca, who were still deep in conversation.

_Well, this won't do, s_he thought, then resolved to do something about it.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Oz was planning on staying at the Bronze as the night went on. In the end, Willow took up Althea's offer and walked back to UC Sunnydale.

"My name is Veruca, I'm in a band," Willow murmured to herself as she walked, imitating Veruca's sultry voice. "Oh, I'm Oz. I'm in a band, too. Oh, and this is Will. Oh, how fun, a groupie."

"You okay, Willow?" Althea asked.

Willow shook her head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Willow sighed and vented her worries to Althea. Althea listened and saw that her ring glowed orange. _Proceed with caution,_ Althea thought.

"Are you gonna talk to Oz about it?" Althea asked.

"I'm hoping he'll call me, but honestly, I'm scared."

"Just because a guy is attracted to another girl does not mean he'll have sex with her. If you want, I can talk to him tomorrow, okay?"

Willow sighed in relief.

Althea and Willow were greeted by Tara as they arrived back in Willow's dorm. Althea noticed the way that Tara smiled at Willow. _If things don't work out with Oz,_ Althea thought as she walked away, _maybe there's another love out there for Willow._

###

The next day, Althea had found Oz sitting on a bench around the main campus thoroughfare. He was watching people rush between classes and nodding his head, as if to a beat. He wore no headphones, so Althea surmised he must be tapping out a rift inside his head.

"Oz, we need to talk."

"What's up?" Oz sent her a friendly smile.

Althea sat down next to Oz, but kept him at arm's length. "I know that you are really drawn to Veruca. It's probably a musician thing. But Willow was really mad at you for staying at the Bronze." When he nodded in acknowledgement instead of reacting in defense, Althea decided to get nosy. "What were you and Veruca talking about anyway?"

"Sound amps."

"And that's it?"

"Yeah."

"Take my advice, Daniel Osborne. If you want to date this new girl, you'd better break things off with Willow now." She didn't actually wag her finger, but the sound of her voice implied the gesture.

"It's not like that," replied Oz, noticeably offended by her scolding. "I love Willow."

Althea focused her mind on Oz and folded her arms, glancing at her ring. It glowed a deep blue color, which always indicated a calm state. Oz isn't lying, she thought. But I still have my doubts.

###

The next night, Althea joined Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies at the Bronze. Xander brought along his girlfriend, Anya, and introduced her to everyone else.

"I gotta say, Xander," Anya said as she watched Buffy, Willow, and Tara dance. "It's so nice that you're friends with so many girls and yet you still choose to have sex with me."

Xander winced while Althea laughed. It seemed like she didn't have to put much work into Xander and Anya because they came together naturally.

"You have a weird sense of humor, Althea," Xander said.

"I think her honesty is refreshing," Althea said. "Maybe the two of us can hang out tomorrow. I can show her around the campus."

The six of them were about half a drink and a few songs in when Buffy jumped up from the table, her attention on an oncoming older gentleman who was walking towards her. He was dressed casually in khakis and a cotton dress shirt, and he wore a pair of wire-rimmed glasses on his nose. A bright, expectant look was on Buffy's face.

"Giles!" Buffy said.

"Who's this?" Althea asked her roommate.

"Oh, this is Giles. He used to be the librarian at my high school." Buffy smiled up at the older man with the familiarity of a daughter smiling at her father.

"I'm Althea Cygnus," Althea said, standing and holding her hand out to shake Giles'. After his soft grip loosened on her hand, she casually it towards the dark blonde witch who was seated beside her. "This is Tara, Willow's roommate."

"I'm Anya," Anya stretched up brightly in her seat, waving at Giles from across the table. "I'm Xander's orgasm buddy."

Althea joined the rest of the friends as they laughed at Giles's uncomfortable expression. But everyone's attention soon turned to Shy, who was beginning their set. Buffy reassured Willow that Veruca wasn't all that great.

"Who names their kid after one of the Willy Wonka brats anyway?" Althea said. But once again, Athea's ring glowed orange.

After Shy finished their set, Willow left the Bronze with Oz. Althea looked at her ring, which glowed blue. _Maybe things will work out after all._

###

Her hopes for them started to fizzle the next day, though. Althea was showing Anya around UC Sunnydale when she saw Oz and Willow getting breakfast together. The two girls sat down next to the two redheads. Anya picked up a newspaper that laid next to Willow's tray and opened it.

"The newspaper says that there will be a full moon by Halloween weekend," she said.

"Full moon and Halloween?" Althea asked. "Spooky."

"Yeah," Oz said. "I don't think I'll be going to the haunted house this weekend after all."

"That sucks," Althea said. "I'll be sure to take pictures, though. Do you still wanna go, Willow?"

Willow thought for a second, then nodded and grinned. "Yeah, I can drop off Oz at home and meet up with you guys later, I think," she said.

"Good." Althea affirmed.

Willow and Oz left together. Althea and Anya stayed at the table, finishing their breakfasts, when Parker Abrams approached the two of them.

"Oh Hades," Althea said.

"What?" Anya asked.

"That's Parker Abrams, playboy wannabe. He's probably trying to sit with us because I'm Buffy's roommate. I wish I could get rid of this guy once and for all."

Anya nodded. "Don't worry. I got an idea."

"Good morning, ladies," Parker said.

Anya glared at Parker. He looked like so many of the men she wreaked vengeance on in the past. Althea smiled, wishing she had popcorn for what she knew was gonna happen next. Anya stood up and slapped Parker across the face loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear.

"I can't believe you gave me syphilis!" Anya shouted. "You said you were taking medication for it!"

Parker stood there stammering while Anya continued. "I knew you were too good to be true, quoting lines from Tolstoy and wishing you could've saved Anna Karenina's life. I bet you never even read the book! We're done, Parker!"

Many a lady looked at Parker and then started whispering to each other. Althea hi-fived Anya as they walked out of the cafeteria together.

###

Later on, Althea met with Buffy, Tara, and Xander in front of the Alpha Delta fraternity house, dressed in a teal blue toga, gold sandals, and a strawberry blonde wig. She wore a quiver of arrows over her shoulder and held a wooden bow in her hand.

"Love the toga," Buffy said. "Greek goddess?"

"The one and only Aphrodite at your service," Althea said, twirling her toga from side to side and flipping her strawberry blonde wig over her shoulder in imitation of the real goddess. She nodded her thanks to Buffy and then turned her attention to the other girl. "Gotta love your costume, Tara."

"T-t-thanks," Tara said with a shy smile. The dishwater blonde, dressed as Glinda the good witch, dipped into a quick, shallow curtsy. "W-w-wizard of Oz is one of my favorite movies."

Althea offered her an encouraging smile before switching subject. "Speaking of Oz, I wonder if Willow's still thinking of coming. Oz has been acting distant this morning."

"Yeah. She wasn't exactly keen on carving up pumpkins with us earlier," Xander said.

"It's okay," Buffy said, then glanced downward, revealing - at least to Althea - that she was mildly anxious about Oz's recent behavior, too. When she looked back up, she was smiling reassuredly. "I'm sure it's just post-midterm fatigue."

Knowing that Buffy was lying, Althea simply nodded.

###

At first, the haunted house just seemed very good at scaring everyone. But at some point, Buffy and Xander split off from Tara and Althea. Tara tried a guiding spell, but it ended up fizzling out. She walked quickly up a flight of stairs to the women's restroom, and then pushed open the door. She was relieved to find the handicapped stall - and its private sink and mirror - unoccupied. Locking herself in, she turned toward the sink and looked up.

"No," Tara said to herself. "This can't be happening."

She saw a reflection of herself in the mirror, but instead of a dishwater blonde in a poofy pink dress, all Tara saw was a grotesque distorted face with a gray, scaly body. She watched in horror as gray hands raised to stifle a gasp of horror. The scream that followed the gasp wasn't muffled, though.

"NOOOO!"

Althea heard Tara's cry and ran up the stairs, but she was stopped short by a tall, brooding figure standing at the top.

"You really think you could lead Buffy away from me?" a dark voice said.

"You can't be here," Althea said. "You're in Los Angeles."

"I always come when Buffy needs me," the dark voice replied. Stepping out into the moonlight, the figure was revealed to be a vamped out man with dark, gelled hair.

"This can't be real," Althea said incredulously.

"You can't keep Buffy away from me forever, lover girl. I'm the Champion of the Powers. You're just a paper pusher." The vampire smirked. "Or I guess a people pusher."

"Back off, Angelus!" Althea said, arming herself. "These arrows are made of real wood!"

"Oh no! The Cupid's gonna shoot me!" He replied in mock terror, raising his hands to his face and pretending to flinch. He added an exaggerated gasp. "Are you gonna make me fall in love with you?"

"I would rather spend eternity with Hades." Althea's voice dripped with disdain.

Before she could think, Angelus leapt towards her and pinned Althea to the floor, her bow and arrows crushed under her weight.

###

Willow and Anya stood alone, outside of the Alpha-Delta house, both of them having noticed that the windows were shuttered up, hearing the screams and yells from inside.

"Oh no, where's Xander?" Anya asked nervously. "Next thing you know, a giant bunny's gonna peek his twitchy nose around a corner and attack us." She shivered in fearful anticipation

"Buffy? Althea? Tara?" Willow called. "This can't be good."

Something was definitely going on.

"I can probably do a spell on the house," Willow said. "Figure out what's causing it." She sat down, crossed her legs and began quietly chanting.

Anya continued to glance around nervously while walking around the seated redhead. She, too, dropped down to the floor and crossed her legs, positioning herself so she was facing Willow and able to share what little power she had, should she the witch need it.

To Willow's surprise, her scrying spell worked. "We need to get Giles," Willow said.

So off the two of them went to Giles's apartment.

###

Laying on her back under the weight of Angelus, Althea squinted her eyes, turned her face toward the floor and hoped for the best - both for herself and for her crushed bow and arrows. When she felt the dark vampire's body rise, she opened her eyes...but no one was there.

_Well, that's interesting._ Carefully pushing herself up, she removed her quiver from her back and inspected its contents. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so she replaced the bow and arrows over her shoulder and quickly stood up. She walked to the women's restroom, where she was sure she'd heard Tara's scream.

"Tara?" Althea asked tentatively. The dirty blonde stood in front of the mirror, her face in her hands and weepy gasps sounding from between her fingers. Althea walked over and wrapped an arm around Tara's shoulder.

Althea held Tara close, hearing her soft cries. "It's okay, Tara, it's okay. I've helped demons find love before. You'll be fine."

All of a sudden, Althea heard the sound of a chainsaw coming from the next floor up. A white flash blinded the house. Althea watched as Tara returned to her normal state.

"What happened?" Tara asked.

"It was all just an illusion," Althea said. She reached into her purse and took out her mirror. "Take a look."

Tara looked up at the mirror and then smiled at the sight of her human reflection.

Just before they could enjoy the relief, Althea and Tara heard the howling of two wolves.

"Uh oh," Tara said. The two girls rushed out of the bathroom and back down the stairs.

Althea looked up the stairwell they'd just climbed down and saw Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Anya running to meet them. Giles followed close behind, a loud chainsaw buzzing in his hand.

"What was that?" Althea asked them.

Giles swung the chainsaw in front of him and turned it off. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a tranquilizer gun, which he handed to Willow. "I was afraid this would happen," he said quietly.

The six of them headed outside the house, where they found two werewolves running towards it. One of them was clearly Oz, but they couldn't identify the second.

Willow fired one dart towards Oz, but the other werewolf jumped to attack her before she could fire a second.

"Levicorpus!" Tara said, aiming her magic towards the second leaping werewolf. The beast was magically lifted into the air, struggling to break free. It landed on top of the first werewolf as Tara moved her hands to the side.

The six humans looked on in horror as the second werewolf immediately started biting Oz's furry neck before it, too, fell victim to a tranquilizer dart from Willow's hand.

"You are one powerful witch, Tara," Althea said.

"Yeah," Willow said with admiration. "That was amazing."

Giles and Willow took the two werewolves to a cave with two cages. Giles noticed that the second werewolf was female.

"So not only is Veruca a skanky ho musician, she's a wolf, too?" Willow asked.

"Not to worry," Giles said. "I'll call up some friends and make sure she stays out of town. And from the damage Oz caused to her, it's likely she'll want to stay away from him anyway.

Back at Giles's apartment, Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles had determined that a spell had been released after an accidental - and minor - scrape on Oz's finger had spilled enough blood to summon the pigmy demon Gachnar. They kept that information secret, not certain as to how Tara and Althea might react to the information they gained.

###

The next morning, Althea knocked on Willow's dorm room door. She smiled after the redhead swung open the door and invited her in.

"What are you doing here, Althea?" Willow asked.

"Oz has decided to leave Sunnydale," Althea said. "He feels really bad about trying to attack you last night and considers himself a danger to himself and others."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"He wrote you a letter," replied Althea. "He told me to meet you here to give it to you."

"But I don't want him to go."

"I didn't either. But I couldn't force him to stay, no matter how much he wanted to. He had no desire to go, but he told me that he had to."

"What about Veruca?"

"The musician he was hanging out with? I saw her this morning and had a talk with her. She told me that she had a gig in London. I told her it would be a great place to live. We'll probably never see her again."

Willow sighed in relief. "Thanks, Althea. I can see why Buffy wants to make you part of our Scooby gang. You're a big help."

Later on, it was nighttime. Buffy and Althea were studying in their dorm when Buffy sensed that it was time for her regular patrol.

"I'm gonna take Willow out to get some ice cream," Buffy said. "Will you be okay here?"

"Actually, I'm heading out, too. I have night classes," Althea lied.

"Okay."

An hour later, Althea walked into Spike's cave and found him getting dressed.

"If it isn't the Cherub," Spike said. "What do you want?"

"I happen to know where Buffy is gonna be tonight," Althea said. "And she's bringing a friend with her. You remember the red-headed witch, right?"

"Yeah. I know Red, pet."

"If you want a good fight with the Slayer, you'd better follow me." With that, Althea turned on her heel and walked out of the cave.

Later, she and the vampire stood watching Buffy from afar as she easily fought off a fledgling vampire. Althea smiled at the sight of Spike admiring Buffy as she swung and kicked while also attempting to put on a comedy act.

When she turned to talk to Spike, however, she saw a group of men dressed in combat wear walking towards him, both of them armed with tasers!

"Spike!" Althea yelled. "Get out of here!"

Althea ran to Spike and pushed him down the hill. The next thing she felt was that same group of men grabbing her, stabbing her with a taser. Althea screamed.

With all her strength, she fought the electrical shocks coursing through her and yelled "BUFFY! HELP!"

Buffy couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't even notice the vamp she just fought turn to dust as she turned to hear her roommate's scream. She watched as Spike rolled haphazardly down the hill and Althea was taken away from men in ski masks and military fatigues.

"Oh God, Althea!" Buffy said.

Buffy and Willow ran back up the hill, trying to follow after the masked men, but they couldn't catch up.

The men disappeared into the forest, taking Althea with them. By the time Buffy got to the edge of the trees, no one was there.

* * *

I REALLY hate to leave you like this, but I won't update this fic every week anymore. I've signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo which starts tomorrow and most of my writing energy has to go into that. if the muse strikes me, I will update the fic when i can this month, but you can expect regular updates again in August.

As a reward for your patience (and reviews), I can give you a preview of what will happen next chapter...

"Come on, Harmony, let's go!"

Harmony vamped out and attacked the doctor only to scream in pain a second later. Althea took out a black bow and armed herself only to feel an electrical shock coursing through her head.

"Oh Gods, if they did what I think they did…" Althea said. "Harmony, take my hand."

"Okay."

"I call upon the goddess Aphrodite and ask for her intercession. This is an emergency. Agent Down. I repeat. Agent Down."


	4. Chapter 4: Althea Tells It All

Thanks to Ellie for the cold read and to all of you wonderful reviewers!

Events in this chapter are based on "The Initiative."

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Althea woke up and found herself in a bright white room with a glass door.

"Oh God, not you, too!" a young woman with curly blonde hair said. "How could they get you? You're human!"

"So are you, aren't you?" Althea asked.

"The blonde woman shook her head. Her face vamped out. "I'm Harmony."

"We've gotta get outta here."

Althea looked around her cell and saw a bag of blood in front of her.

"I guess they think you're a vampire, too," Harmony said. "But don't drink it. Or eat anything they give you. Everything is drugged." 

Althea saw that her bag was still with her. She took out her mirror from her bag and smiled. "I think I have an idea." She turned to her mirror and said: "Mirror, project an image of me drinking the blood. Make them think that I am a vampire."

Althea turned invisible while the mirror projected a duplicate of a vampire version of herself. Harmony could only stand and watch as a man in a white lab coat walked to Althea's cell.

"Hostile 17 has taken the blood. It's time to take her to examination," the doctor said.

"I beg to differ," Althea said. Turning visible, she spoke a phrase in Greek and a golden net emerged from her bag and trapped the doctor. She grabbed the key card from the doctor's lab coat and swiped it in the slot, opening her door. She hurried over to Harmony's cell and swiped the key card, opening Harmony's cell.

"Harmony, do you know how to get outta here?" Althea asked as alarm bells started to ring./p

Harmony nodded. All of a sudden, men in lab coats and military gear surrounded them.

Althea held out her hand. "Come on, Harmony, let's go!"

Harmony vamped out and attacked one of the scientists only to scream in pain a second later. Althea took out a black bow and armed herself only to feel an electrical shock coursing through her head.

"Oh gods. If they did what I think they did…" Althea said. "Harmony, take my hand."

"Okay."

"I call upon the goddess Aphrodite and ask for her intercession. This is an emergency. Agent Down. I repeat. Agent Down." As soon as Althea finished that sentence, she and Harmony disappeared in a shimmer of white light.

Althea reappeared in a white clouded room. Harmony sat slumped beside her, holding her head in her hands.

"Aphrodite, this is an emergency situation," Althea said. "I got captured by these...commandos."

Aphrodite appeared in front of Althea. "I was afraid this might happen."

"Now I know how Zeus felt when he gave birth to Athena," Althea said.

Aphrodite sighed. "I can get the chip out of your head. But what about her?" She pointed at Harmony, who took one look at the goddess and fainted.

"I don't know. I owe her for helping me get out, but I don't want her to cross paths with Buffy. Harmony could be a liability to my mission." Althea snapped her fingers. "Drop Harmony off in Los Angeles. If anyone can help her, maybe Angel can. Just as long as I don't have to face him."

"Granted." Aphrodite snapped her fingers and teleported Harmony to Angel's office. Then she waved her hand over Althea's forehead and brought the chip out of Althea's head, crushing the chip in her hands.

"Thank you, fair goddess."

"Now you have to catch up. I should tell you right now that Ares and Athena have informed me about the ones who have captured you." She led Althea to a large mirror wall and waved her hands, revealing a montage of images of the commandos. "They are called The Initiative. They capture demons and experiment on them. Maggie Walsh, your assignment's professor, is currently creating a monster called Adam and is planning on turning Riley Finn and his comrades into an army of super soldiers that are part demon, part machine."

Althea cringed. "I have to keep Buffy away from both of them."

"Unfortunately, she hasn't." Aphrodite motioned to the mirror. "Reveal to Althea what Buffy has been doing."

At first Althea smiled at the sight of Buffy searching the UC Sunnydale campus every night for the past few days. The smile started to fade, however, at the  
sight of Spike tied up at Giles's apartment.

"Okay, Spike, spill," Buffy said. "What were you doing with Althea?

"She just happens to be my friend," Spike said.

Buffy scoffed. "Ha! If she was friends with you, she would've told me." Doing her best imitation of Althea, Buffy said, "Oh Buffy, I met this guy who looks like Billy Idol-"

"Oy! Billy Idol stole his look from me!"

Buffy put on her serious face and shook her head. "The point is that the last time Althea saw you, we were at the party at Wolf House. I told her to stay away from you."

"Told her that story about the gang on PCP? Yeah, she didn't believe you."

"Shut up, Spike. I know better than to think those commandos were working for you. They were hunting you and for some weird reason, Althea wanted to save your life. And you're very lucky that I have other plans right now because I would so stake you right now."

The image faded out.

"Where is Buffy now?" Althea asked.

An image revealed Buffy at a party with Riley Finn with Willow smiling at the couple.

"Oh for Zeus's sake!" Althea said. "Aphrodite, do you have Hermes's all-purpose communicator?"

Aphrodite handed a golden laurel wreath to Althea. "Here you go."

Holding the laurel wreath like a phone, Althea said, "Hermes, grant me the power to reach Buffy right now."

Over at Lowell House, Buffy heard a phone ring.

"What was that?" Buffy asked. She ran towards the sound and picked up the phone. Riley was about to follow after Buffy when his friend Forrest called him away.

"Hello?" Buffy said as soon as she picked up the phone.

"Buffy?" Althea said.

"Althea! Omigod, what happened?"

"I'm fine. I got into a fight with some goons in combat wear, but I'm safe now."

"Where are you?"

"I'm with my psychology professor, outside of campus. I'll be back soon."

Buffy looked around her to make sure that nobody could hear or see her. To her surprise, the house was completely empty. _This isn't right,_ Buffy thought. "Campus isn't safe," Buffy said softly. "I'm not exactly sure I should even be using this phone."

"It's okay, Buffy. I'm on a secure line. Even if the ones after me are tapping your phone or watching you, they won't be able to see or hear you."

"Wow. In that case, meet me at Giles's apartment as soon as you can."

Great idea. Spike told me he'd be there and I have some catching up to do with Spike anyway."

"So you _are_ friends with Spike. What's the deal with that?"

"I'll explain when I get there."

Back on Olympus, Althea nodded at Aphrodite. "Thank you, fair goddess. I'll report to you soon."

"Be careful," Aphrodite said.

Althea nodded and teleported out.

###

The next thing that Giles, Xander, Anya, and Spike saw was Althea appearing before them, wearing a quiver of arrows on her back. Buffy, Willow, and Tara walked in to see the light from Althea's teleportation fading.

"Oh my God," Buffy said.

"Well from the way she came in, we can guess that she's definitely not human," Xander said.

"O-or a demon," Tara said. "Her aura is too bright for a demon."

"So what exactly are you?" Giles asked.

"I'm a Cupid," Althea said.

"Cupid?" Xander asked. "Like wear a diaper and a bow and arrow?"

Althea rolled her eyes. "If I had a dollar for every time I heard that…Well, first of all, I don't wear a diaper. But I do have a bow and arrow. I'm a higher being, an agent of the Powers that Be."

"The Powers? Like Whistler?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. And I know who you really are, Buffy. You don't have to hide the fact that you're the Slayer from me anymore."

Buffy sighed in relief.

Giles took out a book and skimmed through it. "Ah yes. Here you are. Or rather, here your kind are. It says that Cupids have the power to see how relationships work out. They can open hearts to love, and can read emotions among other things."

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg," Althea said. "The Watchers Council doesn't encounter Cupids often. Mostly because they're too busy loving the power and information they have in their hands to be open to the love that Cupids have to offer."

"Ugh. I used to hate you guys," Anya said. "You guys were horrible for the vengeance demon business."

"What exactly happened to you?" Buffy asked.

Althea took out her mirror and said, in Greek, "Mirror, project to all what happened to me on the wall opposite of me." She pointed the mirror towards a blank wall. Everyone stared in awe at the projection from Althea's mirror as it played out the duration of her capture and all that happened to her in the underground laboratory.

"Aphrodite informed me that these men are called the Initiative," Althea said. "They experiment on demons and they thought I was one."

"What did they do to you?" Buffy asked.

"The scientists put a chip in my head but thank the Powers that Aphrodite got it out of me."

"Aphrodite?" Willow asked. "The goddess of love?"

"Yes. Aphrodite is one of the Powers that Be."

"S-s-so what else happened?" Tara asked. "How did you get out?

"Someone helped me get out," Althea said. "A vampire named Harmony. Do you know her?"

"I was wondering where the bint went," Spike said.

"No you weren't," Althea said, rolling her eyes.

"It's kind of sad that Harmony got vamped," Willow said. "Where is she now?"

"She's in Los Angeles. I asked Aphrodite to place her in a place where I used to work."

Buffy shook her head."Why would the commandos capture you?"

"Because they can't tell a higher being from a sodding demon, that's why," Spike said.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Xander said, "Spike is right. We can't trust these guys."

"I think I know where their base might be," Buffy said. "I was at Lowell House a little while ago with Riley and they emptied out the house really quickly. I didn't see them outside, so they weren't doing a fire drill."

"You're right," Althea said. "Mirror, project to me the hearts of Riley Finn and Maggie Walsh."

Images of Riley and Maggie down in the Initiative base projected onto the wall. It also revealed that Riley was the one leading the team that captured Althea and that Maggie was planning to experiment on the Cupid as well as the other demons captured in the compound.

"I know I'm the Slayer and all, but this is sick," Buffy said. "Oh God. What if I have to see Riley again? And what about you?"

"As far as UC Sunnydale is concerned, I can handle myself. We're in the last two months of the semester and as long as I stay close to you and the Scoobies, the Initiative won't try and come after me. Hopefully. But I'll be ready if they do."

"Can that mirror tell us more about The Initiative?" Giles asked.

"Not about the Initiative as a whole. But the mirror can look into the hearts of anyone I want."

"And it can look into the past, which is cool," Willow said.

"It can also show potential futures as well," Althea said. "However, the projections of the future are speculation at best. Buffy, what do you think we should do?"

"That mirror will be a great asset, but even if we figure out what the purpose of the Initiative ultimately is, we have to figure out a way to take them down. And that means forming a task force."

"Great idea!" Althea said. "And as part of the task force, I request that Spike be included in this."

Spike gasped in shock. "What? Why me?"

Althea smiled at him. "Spike was originally the one they were after. And from what I've shown you, you can guess that they're probably gonna go after anything they think isn't human. Spike can figure out how far this reaches. And we'll also need the extra muscle." Althea looked at Buffy. "After all, he's been a useful ally in the past, hasn't he, Buffy?"

Buffy nodded reluctantly. "Yes, he has. But if he's going to be part of this task force, the truce will have to be put into place. Which means no killing humans until further notice, Spike."

Spike groaned. Buffy raised her stake. "It's either you bag it or I stake you."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Althea said. "He's essential to my assignment anyway."

"Your assignment?" Buffy asked.

"Sorry, Buffy, but I can't tell you about that yet. You wouldn't believe me, anyway. Right now, what I can tell you part of my assignment is to help you stop the Initiative. And I can promise you that I can do a lot more than just your average smoke and mirror tricks and shooting love arrows at people."

"Thanks, Althea."

The six Scoobies went into research mode, using the books in Giles's house and Willow's computer to look further into the history of the Initiative. Althea untied Spike from the chair and went towards the TV.

"Thanks, Cherub," Spike said.

"You _can_ call me Althea, you know," Althea said. They sat down on Giles's couch and kept their voices low. "I know that you don't like hanging around them, but you can consider me their liaison."

"But what about…" Spike gestured his head in Buffy's direction.

Althea giggled softly. "Leave _that_ to me. And just think of it this way. If it comes down to us fighting those goons, you might get the chance to kill some of them."

Spike smiled. "I can live with that."

###

Meanwhile, in the Initiative's base, Riley looked over the reports of the double hostile escape. He pinned papers and pictures to a bulletin board. After several hours, Riley stepped back and looked at the "evidence board."

Pictures of Althea, Harmony, and Spike were in the middle of the board. A string held down by a pushpin connected a picture of Althea to a picture of Buffy and the Scoobies. "Hostages or hostiles?" was written over the picture.

* * *

I already have the next chapter lined up and ready to go, but I want to see what you guys think might happen next first. Please like and review and I just might post again sometime this week!


	5. Chapter 5: Where Althea Fears to Tread

Betaed by Ellie Sutcliffe and some friends from the Elysian Fields Chatzy.

Events from _Pangs_ went about the same as they did in canon unless stated otherwise. Most of this chapter is based around the events of _Angel_'s "I Will Remember You."

**WARNING: ANGEL BASHING AHEAD! WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER TO BE POSTED!**

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Buffy would be a _very _different show.

* * *

Thanksgiving break came around with its usual feast of mayhem and mishaps. Althea received a message from Ares to beware of a warrior spirit who would put the Scoobies in danger, which prompted Xander to work a different part of the Anthropology department's construction project. After defeating the warrior named Hus in the forests outside of Sunnydale, Buffy was able to have Thanksgiving with her Scoobies at Giles's house.

"I kind of feel sorry for the guys at the dig site," Xander said. "They came back from their check up and told the manager that the latest dig gave them all syphilis."

"Thank God my man doesn't have it!" Anya said.

"It was just cool that we all worked together again," Willow said.

"Yeah. And Dead Boy was about as useful as he ever was," Xander said, laughing.

"But Spike was at Willie's the whole time," Althea said. "He wasn't with Buffy fighting Hus."

"Not Spike!" Xander said. "Angel."

The room fell silent as Buffy gasped.

"Angel was here?" Buffy asked in a soft, sad voice.

Althea got up from the table and took her mirror out of her bag.

"Mirror, reveal to me Angel's heart."

Sure enough, the mirror revealed to all how Angel left Los Angeles and stayed in the shadows.

"I need to talk to him," Buffy said.

"You can't go alone!" Althea said.

"Why not?"

"At least let me come with you," Althea said.

"Why?"

With hesitation, Althea said, "You still love him, don't you?"

Buffy dropped down onto Giles's couch and started crying.

"It's okay," Althea said. The other Scoobies huddled around Buffy, comforting her. Althea got up and took a deep breath.

"Buffy, I think it's time I tell you why I'm really here," Althea said.

"Why?"

"My mission was to help you find true love. I am also allowed to help your friends, but you are my number one priority."

"Why?"

"All I was told is that love will help you save the world. If you want to see Angel, you'll have to take me with you so that I can read him."

"You can read vampires?" Buffy asked.

"Oh yeah. Vampires are capable of a lot of emotions, Angel included."

"How?"

Althea held up her right hand and showed Buffy her ring. "This looks like an ordinary mood ring and it changes colors, just like a mood ring. However, this ring can read the emotions of whomever I want."

"Really?" Buffy asked.

"Cool!" Xander said. "Try reading me!"

Althea smiled at Xander and focused her attention on him. The stone on the ring changed from white to a beautiful emerald green color.

"This was the color I saw when I first met you," Althea said. "Emerald green usually means a true friend. Which you are."

"I guess I'm feeling kind of black," Buffy said.

Althea shook her head and focused her attention on Buffy. The stone's color shifted from emerald green to a gloomy blue-gray color.

"No, Buffy," Althea said. "You're just sad and confused. But if you feel like you need to talk to Angel, I can be there to help you."

"Can you make Angel come back and stay with me?"

"I can't make any promises on that, Buffy. I told you that Cupids can't force someone to feel something they don't want to. They just bring out feelings that people keep inside."

"Well, let's hope there's something there because we're heading to Los Angeles."

Althea nodded.

Buffy left Giles's apartment to go pack her things.

"I'm gonna check back with the construction company," Xander said as he up to leave. "My boss said that they want my help hiring new workers."

"Can there be orgasms afterward?" Anya asked as she followed after him.

"What about us?" Willow asked. "What can we do?"

Althea smiled at them. "Willow, ask Giles for help with a locator spell on the Initiative base. We can keep them on surveillance, but according to the message I got from Ares, they're on downtime for now. I'll be with Buffy and as long as I'm with her, they won't go after me."

"Okay."

"Can I talk to Tara alone, though? I have a special assignment for her."

"Sure."

Althea pulled Tara aside and said, "Tara, can you do me a favor and keep an eye on Spike for me? Read his aura and tell Willow what you see."

"W-w-why me?" Tara asked.

"Because everyone else would probably stake Spike first. He's still necessary in our fight against the Initiative."

"O-o-okay," Tara said with a hesitant smile.

###

The next day, Buffy and Althea arrived in Los Angeles. As they walked into the office of Angel Investigations, Althea heard a familiar voice.

"You don't want to 'stir', but if my ex came to town and was all stalking me in the shadows and then left and then didn't even say 'hello' I'd be…"

"A little upset," Buffy said. "Wouldn't you?"

"Buffy's here." A well-dressed brunette stood up in surprise. "In town. What brings you to…"

"I came to see my father," Buffy said. "Thought I'd stop by. Cordelia, how are you?"

"Good. I'm good. You?"

"I've been better."

"Uh huh." Cordelia motioned to the meek looking man standing next to her. "Well, this is Doyle. And he gets visions of people in trouble."

"This is Althea," Buffy said with a quick smile. "She's a Cupid."

"And this is us leaving you two alone." Cordelia dragged Doyle out of the room. Althea, however, slipped past Cordelia's grasp. Althea smiled at them nervously.

While Cordelia and Doyle left the room., Althea focused her energy on scanning Angel's heart with her ring as he and Buffy argued. To her surprise, her ring didn't glow pink, purple, or even red as she read Angel. Instead, it glowed orange. Proceed with caution, Althea thought.

But before she could talk to Buffy, a demon came in out of nowhere and attacked Angel. Althea stood back and observed Angel and Buffy fighting. She saw that Buffy's first instinct was to protect Angel and that they lacked any sort of synchronization, evidenced by Buffy landing on top of Angel as the demon fled. Scenes of Buffy fighting alongside another vampire flashed in Althea's mind.

"A-althea?" Buffy asked. "Angel and I are gonna look for this demon. Can we meet later?"

"Sure," Althea said.

###

Later on, Althea met Buffy at a pier in Santa Monica.

"Are you okay?" Althea said.

"Something weird happened," Buffy said. "Angel and I were in the sewers and we fought a demon. But when the demon was gone, I swear...I felt Angel's heartbeat."

"Um...Buffy?"

Buffy turned around and saw Angel walking towards her in broad daylight. Althea couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Angel kiss Buffy passionately, standing out in the sun…human again. She knew where things were going to go, no mirror necessary. Althea ran off, knowing that Buffy wouldn't notice that she was gone. There was only one place in Los Angeles that Althea could go to. Focusing her energy, Althea went into the shadows and teleported.

Althea opened her eyes and found herself in a more rundown side of Los Angeles. It was starting to get dark. This isn't Caritas, Althea thought.

Althea looked around for any sort of familiar landmarks, unaware of a group of vampires lurking nearby.

"Watch out!" a masculine voice said.

Althea followed the direction of the voice and looked behind her. Her eyes met the soft brown eyes of a young man dressed in a loose t-shirt and pants. She stepped aside as she watched the young man and a group of similarly aged young adults fight off the vampires who were about to attack her.

"I'm really sorry about that," Althea said after the fight ended. "My car broke down, I got lost, and ended up somewhere I shouldn't have. I was trying to find Sunset Strip."

"I know where that is," the young man said. "I can drive you there if you want."

"Thanks. It's been a while since I was last here and I was in Santa Monica with a friend."

"I understand. Between Santa Monica and Sunset Strip is a lot of bad area, though. Where's your car?"

"Well...I actually came with a friend and she's kind of with someone right now. I was heading to Sunset Strip on my own but you know how when you're driving and you don't really think about where you're going because you're so stressed?"

"I getcha. Get in."

Althea jumped into the jeep and the young man, after waving off his friends, slid into the driver's seat.

"Thanks a lot Mister…"

"Gunn. Charles Gunn."

"I'm Althea."

Gunn drove out of the slums of South LA and headed north.

"So what brings you and your friend to LA?"

"It's Thanksgiving break. My friend came to see...somebody."

"I take it you don't like this somebody."

Althea shook her head. "I don't understand why, but I can't shake this feeling that something isn't right about my friend being with him."

"In my experience, that's a good instinct to have."

"You seem a little young to know about love."

"I'm older than I look."

"So am I."

Finally recognizing the building she was looking for, she told Gunn to drop her off at the corner.

"I'm gonna meet some of my friends at a nightclub. I hope I don't get lost again," Althea said.

"I kind of hope you do. It's not everyday I get to meet a beautiful stranger"

Althea laughed nervously, wondering why it was so hard for her to look at him. "You're not so bad looking yourself. I guess...I guess this is goodbye for now, though."

Gunn nodded and drove off back to his side of town while Althea went to a glitzy building and went downstairs. As she walked in, she looked around the bar and sighed as if she was walking back into her old hometown.

A green skinned horned demon with red eyes greeted her with a hug as she walked in. "Althea, honey! Long time, no see!"

"Lorne!" Althea said, returning Lorne's hug.

"You okay, honey?"

Althea shook her head. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Lorne patted her on the shoulder. "I'll open up a spot for you. What song will you be singing?"

"Another Suitcase in Another Hall from Evita," Althea said with a smile.

Althea sat down at the bar and laughed at the blonde waitress who stepped behind it.

"Hey there, Harmony," Althea said.

"Hey...Althea?" Harmony asked. Althea nodded. "Thank you so so much for bringing me here. I guess I must've been asleep in the car or something because I had this dream where I was up in the clouds and then when I woke up, I was in Angel's office. That kind of dorky looking guy working for Angel told me about this place and now I'm employee of the month."

"Good for you," Althea said.

"So I guess you're gonna sing?"

"Yeah. What did you sing when you first came here?"

"That song from Titanic by Celine Dion."

The conversation was interrupted by applause as Lorne stepped onto the stage.

"We got a blast from the past in town tonight, ladies and gents and others," Lorne said. "Tonight, my best bartender, Althea, is here to perform Another Suitcase in Another Hall."

She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. She smoothed out her skirt and walked to the stage with heavy thoughts.

The familiar Spanish guitar intro played as Althea stepped up to the mic.

"I don't expect my love affairs to last for long. Never fooled myself that my dreams could come true…" The tears streamed down her face, but Althea composed herself in the music breaks, taking deep breaths. She didn't need the mirror to know what Buffy and Angel were probably doing and the thought of Buffy and Angel together started a wave of "what ifs." If things kept going, she would be obligated to bless them with her golden arrows, the arrows that would make their love permanent and true for eternity. But the thought of doing that didn't feel right to her.

_I wish I knew what the Powers had planned for Angel, but I don't want Buffy to be a part of it,_ Althea thought.

"Where am I going to?" Althea sang, wondering the same thing.

"Don't ask anymore," Lorne sang as he stepped onto the stage.

As the song's outro played, Althea sat down with Lorne in a private room.

"I'm glad I got that all out," Althea said. "I would've just come to you crying like a baby otherwise. Honestly, I still feel like crying."

"You've been having some problems with your assignment," Lorne said.

"I feel like Buffy has become one of the best friends I could ever ask for. And I met her boyfriend, Angel…I read the two of them recently, but something doesn't feel right."

"You don't think that Angel deserves your golden arrow."

"No. I have been around vampires long enough to know that Angel and Angelus are actually one and the same, but that the gypsy's curse kept Angel focused on guilt, afraid to feel anything good. And honestly…I don't think Angel as a whole loves Buffy. His demonic heart belongs to someone else."

"And who do you think Buffy belongs with?"

Althea started crying again. "Lorne, it's impossible. She doesn't love him."

"Thea, you should know better than anyone else that with love all things are possible…"

"As long as you are willing to open your heart," Althea said, remembering the vow she made when she started her life as a Cupid.

"So don't think about right now. Who do you think Buffy belongs with, no matter how impossible it may seem?"

"Spike," Althea said without hesitation.

"Show me the mirror, honey."

Althea took out her mirror. "Mirror, reveal to me the ties that bind Spike and Buffy together."

Images of Spike and Buffy played out in the mirror like a movie montage.

"Spike and Buffy seem to understand each other better than anyone else," Althea said as scenes featuring Buffy started to play out. "They know how to get under each other's skins. And they're so much alike, yet so different. Like yin and yang. When I met Spike, I saw that he was physically attracted to Buffy, so I turned that attraction into interest. Although he still wants to kill her, it's kind of tearing him apart, which is always fun. It's also clear that Spike's human side gets along better with the demon, otherwise my arrow wouldn't have worked at all. It doesn't make sense on paper—"

"But paper is boring, Thea. Besides, I think something's about to change really soon. Why don't you ask your mirror about what your pretty little ring saw when you were in Santa Monica with Buffy?"

Althea gulped. "Okay." She looked down at her mirror. "Mirror, show me what happened at the pier."

The mirror played out the scene Althea experienced mere hours ago, but instead of focusing on Buffy and Angel's passionate kiss, it showed Althea's ring before she began to run for it. Althea realized that she focused her attention on Angel's heart at the time. The stone on the ring glowed a dark shade of gray. The color of desperation, trying to grasp onto a hope that's slipping. Althea smiled.

"Take a trip to the post office tomorrow," Lorne said. "Your mission to bring Spike and Buffy into a mountain of affection for each other starts by confronting John the Bastard."

"Or in my case Angel the Bastard."

###

Angel appeared before the Oracles, desperate for a way to gain his strength.

"This is a matter of love," The male Oracle said. "It does not concern us."

"Which is why we have brought another to place judgment upon you," the female Oracle said.

"Who?" Angel asked.

Althea appeared in front of Angel in a form he did not recognize. Her shoulder-length brown hair was now a long wave of coppery red hair. Her gray eyes were now a deep blue and her casual clothes were replaced with a white Grecian robe. But what was most distinctive was a pair of white wings extending from her back.

"I am Althea, servant of Aphrodite and Buffy's personal Cupid. The Oracles have called upon me to help you."

"You're a higher being?" Angel asked.

"I am an agent of the higher beings, just like your friend Whistler." Althea reverted into her human form. "And like Whistler, I can take on a human form. I have to interact with people in order to find love for them after all. Buffy is my assignment and I came with her to see if you could be her true love."

"Then you must know that I am. You have to help me."

"I will help you Angel, but I have to give you my honest judgment. While I will give you your vampire powers back, I can't promise you that you are or will ever be Buffy's true love."

"How can you say that?"

Althea reverted into her winged form and snapped her fingers. A large mirror appeared in front of both of them.

"Mirror, reveal to Angel the damage he has caused to the heart of Buffy Summers," Althea said in Greek.

Angel watched in horror at what the mirror displayed. To his shock, it showed himself as Angelus as well as all the heartbreak he gave Buffy in her last year of high school.

"You were right to stay away from Buffy," Althea said. "But the problem is that you think things can only work if you're human. And yet, when you gain your humanity, you think that you are useless to Buffy and think you can protect her as a vampire."

"I can!"

"By staying in Los Angeles? How exactly will you protect her if you're not close to her?"

Angel opened his mouth to say something but instead, he turned and looked away.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Mister Mc-Broods-A-Lot."

Angel turned back and looked at Althea.

"The Powers want you to stay here in Los Angeles, but they also told me that you need to realize that Buffy doesn't need protection."

"Yes, she does."

Althea turned back to the mirror. "Mirror, reveal to Angel the consequences of what he desires most."

The mirror showed Angel returning to Sunnydale, reigniting his relationship with Buffy, and dusting Spike after seeing him with Buffy. He watched as went through a series of trials to keep his soul anchored so that he and Buffy could have sex again, only for the relationship to come crashing down when Angel refuses to let Buffy sacrifice herself to some kind of hell goddess. A young woman with long brown hair offers herself in Buffy's place, leaving the Scooby Gang to pick up the pieces. It then shows Buffy eventually choosing suicide over the loss of the young brunette.

"While what you have just seen is just speculation, it also shows you that because Buffy is the Slayer, she is going to be on the front lines at all times. You can never protect her because even though she might not admit it, she does not want protection. But you can support her. Use what I have told you to help me prevent Buffy's death."

"How?"

"I will ask the Powers to send visions to your seer. It's on a need to know basis. Time is a fluid thing, but it's also delicate. The fact that I exist has already changed what could've been for Buffy."

Angel sighed in resignation. "How the hell will I live if I can't love Buffy?"

Althea scoffed. "Get over yourself first. If you really love Buffy, you have to let her go and want what's best for her." Althea returned to the platform. "Do you accept the punishment I am giving you?"

"Do you promise to make sure that Buffy will be happy and live a long life?"

"I swear on Aphrodite herself."

"Then I accept."

Althea turned to the Oracles who stood on the sidelines, watching in amusement.

"Oracles, swallow the day for Angel and make him remember all I have told him. I will take care of Buffy's heart."

"Just one question before I go."

"Yes?"

"If I'm not Buffy's true love, who is?"

Althea reverted back to her human form and laughed mischievously. "Sorry, Angel. Cupid-Client confidentiality."

Angel groaned as he was pushed out of the Oracles' realm.

###

Mere minutes later, Althea found herself back in Buffy's car, with Buffy in a huff.

"Buffy, I think I'll stay invisible," Althea said. "I…I don't want Angel to be distracted by a stranger."

"But you can still read him, right?" Buffy asked.

"If he's open to being with you, I'll let you know."

Buffy's smile didn't quite reach her eyes as she stepped out of the car.

Althea turned herself invisible and waited until Buffy was inside to follow her. To anyone looking, it would seem as if the wind blew the door to Angel's office shut.

As soon as Althea was inside, she knew she had to act quickly. She armed herself with her black bow and fired a black arrow at Buffy. The arrow disappeared as Buffy looked at Angel. While Angel destroyed the Mohra demon, Althea armed herself with another arrow. She let the arrow fly as Angel looked at Buffy.

Just to be safe, Althea thought as the black arrow disappeared, unseen by anyone except for herself.

Five minutes later, Buffy got back in the car, tears welling up in her eyes, not even noticing Althea reappearing in the driver's seat.

"Let's get back to Sunnydale," Buffy said. "And before you ask, I don't really feel like talking right now."

Althea nodded and turned on the radio.

###

"Althea, can I ask you something?" Buffy asked as they got onto the freeway.

"Yes?"

"Do you see any kind future with me and Angel?"

Althea shook her head. "Not any good kind of future."

"Do you have any sort of powers than can help me get over him?"

"Heartbreaks take time to heal, Buffy. But if it helps, I did look at his past as a human."

Buffy sat up ramrod straight. "You know what Angel was like as a human?"

Althea nodded. "I'll tell you all I know as we keep driving. Take out my mirror from my purse. You're gonna need it."

Buffy had quite a lot to listen to as they continued down the highway back to Sunnydale. Althea told Buffy about what she saw of Angel's romantic past and even showed Buffy some of it, using the mirror in her bag. Buffy gasped as she saw the person Angel was as a human and how easily he embraced the life of a vampire.

"Angel never told me much about his past," Buffy said, holding Althea's mirror in her hands. "I can see why."

"What did Giles tell you about vampires before?" Althea asked.

"That there was no humanity in them. That they just gained a person's memories and personality, but there's no soul."

"I hate to say it, Buffy, but the Watcher's Council is kind of wrong about that."

"What do you mean?"

"When a human is made into a vampire, the demon takes possession of the body and the person loses his or her conscience, but a vampire can still feel just as much as anyone else. It's still your duty to make sure they don't feed on humans, don't get me wrong, but vampires do have souls, but the souls are corrupted. Think of the worst human criminals and sociopaths in history."

"So what did Angel mean when he said the gypsies cursed him with his soul?"

"The gypsies cursed Angel by giving him his conscience back, a conscience that will always make him feel guilty and fear ever embracing any emotion other than guilt or fear. Can you honestly live with that forever, Buffy?"

Thinking about what the mirror revealed about Angel, Buffy shook her head. "I have a lot to think about."

Althea turned the radio back on and let Buffy process everything she was told. The two of them walked back to their dorm in silence.

"One thing I know for sure," Buffy said as she laid down on her bed. "I don't think I want to see Angel again anytime soon."

* * *

I always imagined Althea's performance of "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" to be like Samantha Barks's performance: watch?v=3kymapFpPds

Thanks for all the likes and reviews! Flames will be used to roast Riley!

Spuffy fluff is coming up in the next chapter! You guys ready for it?


	6. Chapter 6: Something Green

Long chapter today, dear readers. Follows the events of _Something Blue_, except for that hilarious scene at the wedding storefront between Buffy and Riley. Assume that everything else happened as they did in canon unless stated otherwise.

Betaed by the lovely Danielle. All other changes are mine.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Althea._  
_

* * *

The dorm was abuzz with activity, people rushing from here to there as they switched classes, came to grab a snack or stopped to talk to a friend. A ladder was set up in the lobby of the main floor and Riley stood near the top rung securing the end of a banner so it hung, suspended across the lobby. Althea almost chuckled when she realized it was the gay straight alliance club's sign.

Buffy, however, felt conflicted as she greeted him. _On the one hand, uber-cute guy,_ Buffy thought. _On the other hand, he tazered my roommate and wanted to experiment on her._

Although Riley noted Althea's presence, the sight of Buffy completely distracted him. "Hey Buffy," Riley said. "You know we were talking about havin' a picnic?"

Dismounting from the ladder, Riley took Buffy's elbow and led her away from the crowd. Althea kept her distance but continued to observe Buffy and Riley, her attention focused on her ring as she held it pointed in the direction of Riley's heart. The stone on her finger changed from white to a yellowish-green color.

_Mixed results,_ Althea thought. _He is eager but also insecure…**very** insecure._

Buffy finished talking with Riley and walked back to Althea with a confused look on her. "Do you wanna go patrolling with me tonight? I need to talk things over."

"Sure. Relationship advice is my specialty after all."

"I'll bring Willow, too. She's kind of been sad lately."

"Still not taking Oz's departure well, then." Althea bit her lip as she looked away, a concerned look on her face.

###

Later that night as they walked through Restfield Cemetery, Buffy told Willow about Riley's picnic date offer.

"If it wasn't for the fact that he tazed Althea, I would so say 'Yes.' I just don't know." Buffy scrunched her eyebrows together. "Part of me wonders if he's just following on blind faith." She turned to Althea. "You were reading his heart when we were talking, weren't you? What do you think?"

"Yeah. He definitely likes you, but he's also got insecurity issues. And unfortunately, my mirror isn't always accurate about the future."

"Maybe he can be turned, like in _True Lies_," Willow said, her eyes wide and hopeful as she stepped carefully over a rock jutting out from the grass.

"It doesn't help that even if he didn't try to kill you, Althea, I feel like something would be missing anyway," Buffy admitted.

"Riley lacks passion," Althea agreed simply.

Buffy nodded, silent for a few moments before continuing her train of thought. "Maybe it's just because I have a thing for bad boys, but part of me believes that real love and passion have to go hand in hand with pain and fighting." A vampire jumped out from behind the bush, but it was easily stakeable. Buffy whipped her arm around, stake at the ready, and stabbed the sharp wood into the vamp's chest. Willow and Althea walked on, barely taking notice of the fledgeling's dusting.

"What do you think, Althea?" Buffy asked, taking a few longer steps to catch up with the other two girls.

"I don't know, Buffy. I've brought so many relationships together in the past couple centuries," Althea said. "The one thing they all had in common was that there was always a potential for pain, but each one was more willing to risk getting hurt than to lose the one they loved. To love at all is to be vulnerable, Buffy, but I always said that as long as a heart is open to love, it'll be willing to face anything."

"That sounds really nice," Willow said wistfully. "Willing to face anything."

Althea smiled. "Yeah, it's true, too. How's Tara, by the way?" She watched, feeling conspiratorial as she gauged Willow's reaction.

"Tara's doing okay." Willow looked down and smiled privately. Shaking her head as if to loosen the image of the other witch from her mind, she glanced back up at Althea and continued. "She's still a little nervous around everyone else, but I've been telling her stories about all the Scooby gang's adventures these past few years."

"You guys are a tight group. It's can be intimidating." Althea replied. "Tara's shy, but she'll come around. She's a really cool girl."

Willow nodded in agreement. The three girls took several steps in companionable silence.

"What about Spike?" Buffy suddenly asked Althea. "You've hung out with him. How's he dealing with the truce?"

"About as well as you might expect," Althea said with a laugh. "I swear, I feel like his parole officer sometimes. But the arrow I shot at him has helped. " She smiled to herself for a moment, then her voice turned serious. "He told me that a lot of the demon population has gone missing. He's currently hiding in his lair, keeping a look out for the Initiative's soldiers...and watching _Passions_." She rolled her eyes in mock disgust.

Buffy stared at her roommate for a few seconds before responding. "If it wasn't for the fact that I know Spike doesn't have a conscience, I'd think you had feelings for him."

Althea laughed and shook her head. "No way, Jose, Buffy! Cupids have a rule against falling for assignments. Eros, the original Cupid, was allowed to break that rule for Psyche, but I'm supposed to be getting…" Realizing that she was about to blurt out what she had planned for Spike, Althea quickly changed tactics. "I was assigned to help all of you, and Aphrodite herself told me that Spike was part of it."

Buffy rolled her eyes and thought that Althea's hesitation was some kind of denial. "Okay, whatever. If you say so."

As the three girls continued on the patrol route, Buffy couldn't help but think about how close Althea and Spike seemed to be getting. She imagined them spending time together, talking and joking and telling stories and laughing. Of Spike calling Althea by his trademark pet names. Of Althea smiling down at her ring as it changed colors during conversations with Spike.

A memory from a week ago suddenly came to Buffy. The platinum blond vampire was sitting unusually close to Althea with an unabashed smile stretched across his face as the girl laughed. Had he been smiling as if he also found something funny? Or was he simply enjoying watching her, sharing in her happiness?

Althea was always so casual with him. So friendly. So familiar. So...

_So not what I should be thinking about,_ Buffy thought, putting a halt to her thoughts. _Why am I thinking about Spike?!_ Buffy shook off the uneasiness she felt and directed her concentration back on her walking.

Althea had been watching her roommate struggle through her train of thought. She looked down at her hand with a knowing smile that widened as soon as she realized her ring had started glowing in a very peculiar shade of green.

###

After Buffy and Willow announced they'd be returning to UC Sunnydale to sleep the patrol off, Althea excused herself and wandered off in the direction of Spike's cave. This time, she found Spike reading and writing something down on pieces of scrap paper.

"Hey there, Spike," Althea said.

"Althea," Spike acknowledged.

She looked at the floor beside Spike. A pile of crumpled paper was piled haphazardly beside his lounge chair. "Do you want me to summon one of the Muses to help you with your poetry?" Althea asked him.

Spike groaned in frustration and threw his stack of papers aside. "I'm still as bloody awful as ever."

"I saw the effulgent poem." Althea graciously kept her criticism to herself, deciding kind encouragement was more effective in the face of his obvious irritation. "You just needed to hone your skills."

"Yeah, I reckon so." He rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. Changing subjects, he went on. "Hey, Pet, thanks for leaving me with Glinda last week. She's actually a real nice bird."

"She'll be a big help in helping you and Buffy get together." Althea smiled.

"Yeah. Uh, speakin' of Buffy, I take it she still wants t' stake me?" Spike peered up Althea with mischief.

Althea chuckled at his impish expression. "Let's see for ourselves." She took her mirror out of her bag and began the necessary chant. "Mirror, reveal to me the heart of Buffy Summers as it is at present."

To Spike's surprise, he saw his own countenance in the mirror. He watched in awe, realizing that Buffy was dreaming of dancing with him at the Bronze. Of leaning her head against his chest. He nearly passed out when the mirror's reflection showed them kissing. Then the image faded into another scene. Only this time it wasn't Buffy and Spike but rather Althea and Spike, huddled together and talking intimately. The mirror became tinted with a peculiar shade of green.

"Wait. What the bloody hell are you doing there?" Spike asked, confused.

Althea chuckled softly. "Buffy thinks that I have a thing for you."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Does she, now?"

The vampire smirked, a thoughtful look smoothing out his eyebrows once again.

Althea nodded as she put her mirror back in her handbag. "And if we play our cards right, we might just make Buffy even more jealous."

###

Early the next afternoon, a knock sounded on Buffy's door moments before Willow barged in. A panicked look was on the redhead's face.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"Oz's room is empty," Willow said, her eyes welling up with tears. She sat down on Buffy's bed, sighed deeply and seemed to sink into herself in gloomy desperation as Buffy and Althea rubbed her back and attempted to comfort her. Willow sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand across her nose. "Devon said that he sent for his stuff. I guess that means he's planning on getting all settle down-y somewhere that...well, somewhere else. Not here."

"Oh, honey, I'm…" Buffy was interrupted when the phone between hers and Althea's bed started to ring.

Althea immediately knew who was calling and rolled her eyes.

"I'll get it," Buffy said, not having noticed Althea's gesture. She got off the bed and picked up the receiver, then held it to her ear.

"Hello? Oh hi, Riley." Althea watched as Buffy listened to Riley, absentmindedly twisting the phone cord between her fingers. "Yeah..um, yeah, Riley, about that picnic? I'm sorry. I kind of have other plans today." Buffy paused for a few moments, clearly receiving a disappointed reaction to her refusal. "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. Well, I'll see you in class. Okay, bye."

"Believe me when I say you are so not missing out with that guy," Althea said after Buffy had hung up. Changing the subject, she turned back to Willow before continuing."Now, as for you, Willow, I say we call Tara and Anya and have a girls night out at the Bronze."

"I second the girliness, Will." Buffy agreed with a resolute nod as she picked the phone back up to issue invitations to the witch and ex-demon.

###

Later that night at the Bronze, Buffy, Tara, Althea and Anya stood in a huddle to the left of the bar as they waited for a round of fresh sodas. Willow had decided to throw caution to the wind and was whirling and bobbing her heart out in the middle of the dance floor.

The bartender waved to Althea and indicated that their drinks were ready. Waving a thanks, she took the first two cups, grabbed a pair of straws and then turned to hand half of the loot to Anya. Buffy and Tara wedged into the crowd around the bar to get the rest of the refreshments.

"So where's Xander?" Althea asked Anya.

"He's working," Anya said matter-of-factly after taking a quick sip from the straw. "He's really liking the construction company he's working with. And I'm really liking his construction uniform. It's great for role playing, which makes for good orgasms."

Buffy rolled her eyes as she returned to the table. "TMI, Anya!"

Tara chuckled quietly as she watched Willow continue spinning around wildly, a big smile on her face.

"Willow seems more cheerful now," Buffy said, noting the direction of Tara's attention.

Tara quickly looked down in embarrassment but nodded in agreement. Althea watched as Tara peered back up through her hair to catch another glimpse of Willow. At the same moment, Willow stopped spinning and looked over at Tara. As if the moment was orchestrated, the two witches locked eyes and smiled. Althea folded her arms and tried to keep her face neutral as Willow walked back to them.

"Hey guys, c'mon!" Willow said, tearing her eyes away from Tara's to invite the other girls back out onto the dance floor. "This music is great!"

"You l-l-l-ook like you're having fun out there," Tara said with a blush.

"Yeah. I-I know I've been kind of depress-o lately, but Althea was right. A girls night out was just what I needed." Willow grabbed her jacket and watches off the table just a little too quickly. A bottle of beer fell from the jacket's inside pocket, its contents spilling out on the table and floor.

"Yeah, that and a good drink," Anya said. "Can I have that? I'll finish it for you."

Willow laughed, picked up the bottle, and reluctantly gave it to Anya.

"A-a-are you drunk?" Tara asked, her voice timid and fretful at the same time.

"Yeah, dancing and drowning your sorrows?" Buffy agreed, equally concerned.

"Not drowning, wading." She pointed to the bottle that Anya just finished drinking out of. "See? It's light. No big."

"No big? Do you not remember midterms and beer and fighting those drunken cavemen?" Buffy asked. "Shall I remind you of the badness that ensued?"

"I so wish I could've seen that," Althea said longingly.

"Ha! Not me. Knowing Xander, I bet he wished that Buffy was one of them," Anya said. "Fuzzy bikini and all."

"Can I go get another drink please?" Willow whined, looking toward the bartender and ignoring Buffy's midterm memories. She scowled. "I've got pain here."

"But pain is a part of life," Althea stated.

"Yes. I used to make a living out of it," agreed Anya.

"But...but...isn't there any way I can just make it go poof?" Willow emphasized the poof with her fingers stretched wide in front of her face.

"Sorry, honey, but broken hearts can't be fixed overnight like that," Althea said. She ran her hand down Willow's back before leaning in to whisper in the redhead's ear. "I looked into your relationship future, though."

"Yeah, but you said it's not always accurate."

"True, but I trust my gut. It's all going to work out for the best." She hesitated and then decided to add to her reassurances. "And Oz will come back when he feels like he's ready."

###

Willow lay in her bed, staring quietly at the slits of light shining through the blinds for more than an hour after Tara had fallen asleep. She'd been contemplating her predicament, replaying the last few weeks over and over in her mind. Each time she thought of Oz leaving, she swore she felt another crack sear through her already-broken heart.

As she wiped the last of a deluge of tears from her face, she decided that a spell was the only way to make herself feel better. She knew the spell she'd do, too. She'd recently found one that would enable her to grant her every will - and since she wanted nothing more than to be happy again, she was certain it would be effective in making her pain go away.

The only problem was that Tara would sense any magic used if she cast it in their room. Willow peeked over and listened to Tara's breathing. Certain the other girl was deep asleep, she took a bag that contained her spell book and a few magical items and snuck out of the dorm room.

Fifteen minutes later, she was by herself in the middle of an empty classroom, seated at the center of a chalked pentacle and surrounded by five red candles. She placed a bowl and a goblet in front of her.

"Harken all ye elements, I summon thee now. Control the outside, control within. Land and sea, fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth, my will be done. So mote it be."

Willow watched as the flames on the candles became brighter and brighter before they suddenly extinguished themselves. She smiled, gathered her supplies and snuck out of the classroom and back into her dorm. The warmth of success spread through her limbs as she settled into bed and waited for sleep to overcome her.

###

"Any plans for today, Althea?" Buffy asked her roommate late the next morning. Neither had classes until later in the day, and the two girls had been lounging in bed, watching sitcom reruns and munching on dry cereal.

"I was actually gonna check on Spike," Althea said, pulling aside her covers and resolving to finally get herself dressed for the day.

"You just saw him two days ago and told me that he hasn't been killing anyone. Unless you think I have to go down and stake him, why the hell are you gonna see him again?" Buffy's voice was garbled as she, too, threw off the covers and shuffled to her dresser.

Althea smiled privately, watching as Buffy struggled to shake off the beginnings of jealousy, though she was pretty sure Buffy had yet to acknowledge that particular emotion.

"Why do you care so much?" Althea asked with a very casual air. "What Spike and I do is my business."

"I _so_ don't care!"

Althea made sure she had Buffy's attention before she shook her head and sighed deeply. _This is gonna be fun,_ she thought.

"I guess you're right, Buffy," said Althea. "It's probably a good thing anyways that you don't really care about the fact that I'm spending so much time with Spike. He does have a deliciously hot body." Althea closed her eyes and made it look like she was imagining the vampire in her head. She peeked her eyes open again and sighed, deliberately making her voice all breathy as she continued. "You should see his tongue, too. Oh, my goddess. The things he could probably do with that tongue. Have you ever seen the way he licks his front teeth when he's talking to you? Mmmmm." She giggled as she remembered how Spike licked his teeth whenever he hoped Buffy wasn't looking.

Buffy's face had taken on a noticeably greenish hue. Althea knew she'd gotten her point across.

Flippantly, Althea shrugged. "Anyway, I'll see you later." She left the dorm room and waited until she was out of an earshot before she cracked and allowed her giggles to bubble over into laughter.

###

Willow walked into Buffy's room just in time to see Althea leave.

"Where's she going?" Willow asked.

"I don't know. She's meeting with Spike somewhere," Buffy said with a huff.

"You sound kind of mad about that."

Buffy folded her arms and her tone rose. "I am mad about it, Willow. Spike is a ruthless, evil killer. What the hell does she see in him?"

Willow shrugged her shoulders, not really sure what kind of reaction Buffy needed from her.

"Does she have a thing for British accents or something? 'What the bloody hell, Luv,' and all that? And what's with talking about Spike's tongue? It's so gross and...blech!" Buffy stuck out her tongue and made a gagging sound.

"Um, Buffy, Althea is Spike's friend. I mean, I know it's kinda weird and all, but you know, he's helping us out with the whole Initiative thing." Willow watched warily as her friend paced around the dorm room.

Buffy huffed. "I'd rather be the one keeping an eye on him. Althea is way too lax. Spike needs someone to keep him from sucking the next innocent dry. And anyways, she doesn't need to be quite so googly moogly about him. I mean...blech!" She made the same gagging noise when her tongue came out.

"Buffy...uh….I know it sounds weird, but, well…." Willow hesitated and then resolved to finish. "I think you might be jealous."

"What!?" Buffy's eyes flew open wide as she glared at Willow. "No, Will. No, I'm not."

"Um, yeah, you are. You're jealous that Althea is spending so much time with Spike!" While she was at it, Willow figured she might as well go for the gusto. "You want Spike!"

A feeling of certainty enveloped Buffy. All of a sudden, the blonde stood up and turned, resolutely, towards her ginger-haired best friend. "You know what, Willow? You're right."

And with that, the slayer grabbed her keys and high-tailed it to the door. Swinging it open, she called back to her friend before the door slammed behind her. "I'm gonna follow that Cupid and give Spike a piece of my mind!"

###

Buffy found Althea just outside of Spike's cave. Whether she'd gone in and talked to the vampire or not, Buffy wasn't certain, but there would be no vampire loving tonight. Of that she was sure.

"Hey, you, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Buffy grabbed Althea's shoulder and spun her around. When her roommate was facing her, Buffy continued. "What, you think you can just run over here and he's all yours?"

"Huh? What do you mean, I think he's all mine? What are you talking about, Buffy?" Althea looked at Buffy and thought _Well that escalated quickly!_ Buffy seemed to be itching for a fight over Spike. Cupids were strong, but not Slayer strong. And she knew from watching Buffy fight that the Slayer had a mean right hook. "Calm down, Buffy. I don't want Spike!"

"You're lying!" This time, Buffy shoved Althea's shoulder, clearly trying to incite a tussle.

"No, I'm not." With reluctance, Althea focused on herself and then held her hand up to show Buffy her ring. "Look, I don't usually read my own heart, but-"

"Put your stupid ring away. I don't care what it says." Buffy was resolute and her voice was starting to shake. She pointed at her roommate, Spike's cave and herself for emphasis as she went on. "_You're_ lusting after _Spike's_ hot body and _Spike's_ tongue. They're _mine_, bitch, herego it's time to deal with me."

As she directed her focus to Buffy, Althea noticed that her ring was hazing between several colors, almost frantically switching from the green of envy to the gray of confusion back to the red that was so characteristic of Buffy and Spike. _Well, that's not supposed to happen,_ she thought to herself.

There was clearly magic at work here, but Althea wasn't sure where it was originating. All she knew was that Buffy was affected. That and, before long, Buffy's fist was going to make her face resemble a pancake.

Focusing inwardly again, Althea waited for her ring to settle once again. She raised her hand so the ring faced Buffy and placed her palm against her nose as if she was hiding behind her fingers. "Buffy, look...please. Look at my ring."

Buffy relented for a second and glanced at the stone in Althea's ring, which glowed a beautiful sapphire blue color. She looked back in her roommate's eyes, her anger seeming to abate and an expression of confusion creeping into her face.

"A blue ring means that the person I'm reading is telling the truth. It's also very neutral." Althea clarified, waiting a beat for Buffy's reaction. When she got none, she continued explaining. "Spike is like a brother to me, Buffy."

Buffy's entire body seemed to deflate before she burst into tears. She slapped both hands over her eyes and sobbed. "Oh, Althea, I'm so sorry! I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm…" Her breath hitched as the sobs became uncontrollable.

Althea smiled sympathetically, cautiously putting her hand on Buffy's shoulder. She'd wanted jealousy, but not the kind that drove a person off the wall.

Buffy's breathing was starting to even out again and spoke in a desperate voice as she dropped her hands from her face. "It's just that I want Spike so bad and I hate that you spend so much time with him." She peered at her roommate. "Those things you said about his tongue!"

"And what exactly did Althea say about my tongue?" The voice came from behind them, decidedly male and decidedly British.

Althea smiled. _Perfect timing, my fanged friend, perfect timing._

Buffy turned around and confirmed that Spike was behind them. She launched herself into Spike's arms, wrapping her legs around Spike's hips and her arms around his neck. Dropping her head to his shoulder, Althea watched in awe as Buffy shrieked in his ear, "Oh Spike! I can't take it anymore!"

Spike was taken aback, and looked to Althea to help explain what was going on. She, however, was just as confused as he was. It was clear he was warring with the decision between relishing this Slayer in his arms and determining just what was causing Buffy's frenzy.

After a few seconds, it was clear he'd decided to take advantage of the situation. Althea smiled as he wrapped his arms tightly around Buffy's body and responded, "What's that, Luv?"

"Oh, Spike, I hated the fact that you were spending so much time with Althea and that she was always talking about you and that she thought your body was hot and that she was thinking of your tongue and your teeth and…" Buffy stopped rambling long enough to take a breath. "I thought that it was just because I was scared for Althea but now I realize that I want you, Spike!"

And before Spike could respond, the slayer had mashed her lips into his in a passionate kiss.

###

When Althea had finally been successful in prying the blonde slayer off of Spike, she talked the two of them into accompanying her to Giles's apartment. Buffy agreed reluctantly, pacified only by Spike's promise that he'd hold her hand the whole way there.

When they got there, the door was unlocked but the lights inside were all extinguished.

Althea opened her mouth to express her worry when she noted a smacking noise behind her. Turning, she nearly got a mouth full of Buffy's hair. The blonde was plastered again to Spike, pecking kisses all over his face and trying to scale his body with her arms and legs wrapped around him.

"Okay, Slayer, okay." Spike was attempting to push her down. Althea knew he was happy to be the object of Buffy's attention, but she was starting to get out of hand.

Quickly, Althea walked into the apartment and called for the older gentleman. "Um, Mr. Giles? Are you here?"

A scrape of a chair sounded from Giles's bedroom, followed by a loud crash and what sounded like glass shattering on the floor. Giles stumbled out, hands on the wall as if to steady himself. His voice was unsure and his eyes seemed to pan across the room without settling on anything. "Althea?"

"Yeah, we kind of need your help." Althea heard more smacking noises emanate from behind her, Spike's muffled voice trying to placate Buffy as she overwhelmed him with kisses once again. Althea turned back towards Giles. "Listen, um, Buffy is…"

Althea abruptly stopped when she realized Giles was about to trip over his own feet. "Giles? Are you okay? Giles!"

She rushed to stop the older man, extending her arms as if trying to break his stride, but she didn't reach him in time. As he walked into the table, his records crashed to the ground, breaking and rolling in every direction.

"Blast it, bloody hell." Giles muttered. He stretched his arms out in front of him, aimlessly reaching for the table to right it, not realizing it had crashed four feet in the other direction.

Oh, my goddess, he's blind. Althea came to the realization just as the front door swung open again. Xander and Anya ran in and then hurriedly slammed the door shut and locked the deadbolt.

Seconds later, the apartment was filled with deafening banging and earsplitting shrieks coming from just outside the door and front windows.

"In the words of Captain Peroxide, what the bloody hell is going on here?" Xander shouted, his voice raising to an unnerved shriek. Panicked, he ran willy-nilly around the the apartment, peering out windows and staring at his friends with a terrified expression on his face.

He halted when his eyes landed on Buffy, who was hanging on Spike's neck, her mouth glued to his, her legs wrapped around his midriff and her hands raking through his pale hair. "Uh, Buff?"

Buffy turned to her friend and smiled. "I love Spike." Her statement was matter-of-fact, as was her next kiss, which was planted right smack in the middle of Spike's mouth with a large pop of her mouth. "I'll be right back, lover boy."

Buffy hopped down from Spike's arms, leaving his mouth swollen and his arms and neck red from her attention. As she hurried over to the window, Spike was noticeably shaky, steadying himself on a nearby chair and looking highly unsure of himself. He glanced over at Althea.

She only shrugged and watched as Buffy peered through the blinds on the front window. Her action only resulted in louder, more harried banging when whoever was outside realized they were getting attention. "Um, Xander, why are there six demons out here? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! I swear!" Xander was frantic, his eyes zipping from Buffy to Spike to Althea to Giles. "Buffy, um, honey, why were you just lip-locked with Evil Dead?"

Xander turned to the rest of the group for support. It was then he realized that Giles, while listening and noticeably worried, was facing in the wrong direction. "Uh, G-man, um, you wanna throw me some love over here? Gonna be demon bait here in a sec, might as well feast your eyes one last time."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Xander. It appears I've gone completely blind." Giles' voice was hard to hear under the demons' incessant banging outside.

Buffy, however, didn't have trouble hearing. "You're blind? Blind, Giles? I mean, I know they say you'll go blind if you, uh, rub certain things too much, but surely they don't mean your glasses?"

Spike snorted and Althea was pretty sure she heard him say something under his breath about rubbing something else. The comment garnered a response from Buffy, who flung herself back into Spike's arms and whispered something suggestively in his ear. Spike's eyes went wide just before they were covered again by Buffy's face as she ground her mouth into his once again.

An exasperated sigh was all the response that came from her Watcher. Xander watched in disgust while Anya and Althea giggled.

"Well, something is all googly moogly around here, my friends," Xander said, "and I, for one, would like to know what's going on." A rock slammed through the front window and a demon's hand started pulling out shards of glass to make the hole bigger. Xander continued, "And I mean before I become that guy's dinner."

# # #

It was Tara who was able to finally guess what had happened and set things right.

After Buffy's hasty departure from the Bronze, Tara had been concerned about her slayer friend and had came to Buffy's and Althea's dorm room after settling a drunk Willow in for the night. Finding Buffy's dorm room empty, Tara returned to her own and called Giles to see if Buffy had checked in yet with him.

"Tara, dear, I'm afraid that the situation is, perhaps, a little more fargone than that." And he explained what had transpired, telling Tara that the six of them had barricaded the broken window and had been holed up in Giles's apartment for the last hour. The crowd of demons had multiplied outside. Althea was alternating between smiling at the sight of Buffy and Spike together and keeping Buffy from giving everyone a show.

Deducing that it was a spell gone awry, Tara had woken Willow in a panic and rushed her to Giles's apartment to fix her mistake. The spell recanted and all affected parties cured, the friends had parted and returned home wearily for bed, some - like Buffy - much more embarrassed than others.

The next morning, Althea and Buffy returned to Giles's apartment to help clean up the aftermath of the previous night's adventures.

"I think we'll have to work on Willow's magic over the winter break," Althea said to Giles.

"I can call up a coven in England," Giles said. "Perhaps they can send someone over here."

"Or Willow can take the opportunity to study abroad for the winter," Althea said.

"I'm just glad this whole spell thing is over," Buffy said. "I cannot believe how stupid we acted!"

"You mean how stupid _you_ acted, Buffy," Althea said. "Spike was never under the spell."

Buffy turned pale. "No..b-b-but you told me that you shot him with your arrow."

"Remember what I told you about my arrows? I just brought out something that was already there. He wants you as much as you want him."

"But I don't want him! I was under the spell's influence, I swear!"

Althea held up her ring, which glowed a bright red. "You're ly-ing," she said in a sing-song voice.

"What, so red means I'm lying?"

"No. This is what I saw when I first saw you with Spike. I read both of your hearts and saw this. This shade of red is very rare amongst Cupids. Eros himself told me that this is what he saw when he read Psyche's heart and found that his own heart longed for her in the exact same way. This shade of red is what I take out my red arrows for."

Buffy dropped Althea's hand and stepped back, holding her hand over her mouth. Her eyes wide with panic, she ran out of Giles's apartment and across town, to the only place other than her dorm she could go.

"Buffy?" Joyce said. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Without a word, Buffy ran into her mom's embrace and started crying her eyes out.

* * *

So things will be awkward next chapter. But they say that words get in the way sometimes. If only there was a way to make it so that nobody's talking...

And just in case you guys haven't guessed yet, Camp NaNoWriMo has not been working out well for me. But you guys are still awesome for reviewing.

I'll be updating next week!


	7. Chapter 7: Words Get In The Way

Thanks to everyone for liking and reviewing my work!

Betaed by Danielle.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Althea.

* * *

Buffy sat in her bedroom, hugging a mug of hot chocolate close to her. Joyce sat at the foot of the bed with her own mug of hot chocolate, but set the mug down on Buffy's dresser.

"So you have this new roommate who can help people out with relationships and you don't want to talk to her right now because she wants to set you up with Spike?" Joyce asked.

"That's pretty much it," Buffy said.

"Has she wanted to set you up with guys before?"

"No. Actually, she's prevented me from getting close to any potential guy whatsoever," Buffy said.

Joyce nodded, and Buffy knew she was thinking about her last encounter with Spike. Although Spike had come to their house with the intention of finding Buffy, he'd never attacked her. And aside from attempting to attack Buffy on Parent-Teacher night and claiming that he was Buffy's friends hostage, Joyce couldn't remember feeling as scared around him as she was around Angel. However, Joyce wasn't completely sure what Buffy thought of Spike, so she decided to give a diplomatic answer.

"Buffy, I don't know Althea, but I did have friends who wanted to help me with my relationship with your father. And maybe if I had listened to them, things might've been different." Joyce paused for a moment, considering. "I think she just told you some things that you may not be ready to handle yet. It's best to sleep on it, honey."

Buffy huffed and took a sip from her mug. "You're probably right. I overreacted. I just don't want to talk to her again until I figure out how I feel about what she told me."

"Don't say that. Give it a day or two and then talk things out. Communication is really important in friendships."

"I know. I know."

Buffy finished her hot chocolate, handed the mug to her mother and laid down in her bed to sleep.

The next thing she knew, Buffy found herself alone in her room. Spike and Althea were standing at her bedroom door, waiting for her.

"What's going on?" Buffy asked as she got up from her bed.

"Don't worry, luv," Spike said. "If I kiss you, it'll make the sun go down." He pulled Buffy in close and kissed her passionately.

Althea smiled at the couple and said "Fortune favors the brave, Buffy."

All of a sudden Althea disappeared and nighttime fell around the house. Buffy heard a young girl's voice from the front porch.

Spike followed Buffy as she went downstairs and opened the front door. She saw a young brunette holding a box in her hands.

"Can't even shout, can't even cry. The gentlemen are coming by. Lookin' through windows, knockin' on doors. They need to take 7, and they might take yours. Can't call to mom. Can't say a word. You're gonna die a-screaming, but you won't be heard."

Buffy felt a touch on her shoulder and she turned around, expecting Spike. Instead, she saw a man with a ghastly pale face, a creepy smile and a black suit.

Buffy woke up from her dream and looked at her bedroom door. There was no one there.

###

Meanwhile, Spike met up with Althea in her dorm room. To his surprise, Tara was sitting on Buffy's bed, only this time without Willow at her side.

"Sorry that things went a bit pear-shaped, luv," Spike said.

"It's okay," Althea said. "I think she just needs some time to let things sink in. Love can be pretty scary sometimes. But that's not why I wanted you to meet me here. Since the Initiative is on the lookout for us and possibly everyone else in the Scooby gang, I thought that Tara could cast a protection spell."

Tara nodded in agreement. "A-Althea said that the Initiative uses heat sensors to tell if something is human or not. S-so the spell I found will disguise you both as humans a-and make you and Althea look different to the Initiative."

"The Initiative knows what I look like, but the information they have on me is very slim," Althea added.

"Sounds like a plan," Spike said. "But I still have a bit of a sun allergy."

Althea chuckled and shook her head. "I can help with that." She took a ring out of her bag and held it out. Spike instantly recognized it.

"That's the Gem of Amara!"

Althea shook her head. "It's a duplicate. I created two decoy rings that only take on the invulnerability aspects of the original. I sent Oz to take one to Angel last month, but Angel ended up destroying it. This one is for you."

Spike slid the ring onto his middle finger. He opened Buffy's side table drawer, took out a stake, and, after a deep breath, staked himself only to find he was invulnerable to it.

"Good job, pet," Spike said admiringly.

"Thanks!" Althea smiled, sure of herself. "Now, Tara, we have to get the spell ready...and please keep all the Scoobies in mind. I don't want to take any chances."

Tara nodded. She took three candles and a matchbox from her bag, then struck a match and lit the wicks. Meanwhile, Althea took a pomegranate out of her bag, knocked it against the edge of the bed and opened the fruit up, allowing the seeds to scatter onto the floor. She also took out a spritzer filled with olive oil and sprayed it around the candles. Finally, Althea took her ring off and placed it at the center of the triangle of candles, alongside the pomegranate and the olive oil spritzer.

Tara recited the first part spell. "Goddess Athena, we ask for your wisdom. Goddess Persephone, we ask for your protection. Goddess Aphrodite, we ask for your intercession." After a few sweeping hand gestures, she continued. "We ask that Athena help us defeat our enemies. We ask that Persephone conceal us from our enemies. We ask that Aphrodite make us look different to our enemies."

Althea reached out to join hands with Tara and began speaking an ancient Greek prayer, praising the gods and goddesses of Olympus. Tara repeated the words after her. The flames on the candles grew bigger and emitted sparks before extinguishing themselves. All of a sudden, Althea transformed into a girl with bright red hair and freckles on her face. Her gray eyes were a light brown and her clothes changed from "girl next door" to a more girly-girl style.

"I think it worked," Tara said with a smile.

"There's only one way to know for sure," Althea said as she put her ring back on. She turned to Spike, who looked down at himself. Althea took her mirror out of her purse and handed it to Spike, motioning for him to look at his reflection. To his shock and awe, he had one - and he found himself staring back at the face he had more than a hundred years ago: the face of William Pratt.

"Bloody hell," Spike said. "I didn't think I'd see my own ugly mug again."

"I think Buffy would like the new look," Althea said. "It's adorable and sweet."

Spike groaned and sat down in a chair. "I guess it'll have to do."

"I-I think you look really nice, Spike," Tara said.

"If you say so, Glinda," Spike said.

###

The next morning, Giles arrived at Buffy's house with a stack of books in his arms.

"I took notes on what you told me, Buffy," he said, "but I couldn't find anything about the Gentlemen so far."

"It's okay. I called Willow and asked her to stop by the magic shop in town to find some material. She's getting Tara and they'll be coming over soon." Buffy closed the door gently behind her Watcher once he'd stepped over the threshold.

"Good," Giles said. He looked up and nodded at Joyce, who was walking in with her own stack of books.

"I don't know if these books will help, but I had them as part of a gallery display recently." Joyce sighed with relief after setting the heavy stack down.

"Thanks, Mom," Buffy said.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Giles," Joyce said with a smile at the Watcher.

Giles returned the smile, hoping he wasn't blushing as well. "Likewise."

###

Meanwhile, Althea and Spike headed over to Xander's basement and knocked on the door.

"Nice new look, Bleach Boy," Xander said when he opened it. "What is he doing here?" he asked Althea.

"Spike is under my protection until the Initiative is shut down," Althea replied before looking around the basement in confusion. "Anya called me up via my mirror and not many ladies can do that."

"I just remembered some things from my vengeance demon days," Anya said with a shrug.

"What's going on?"

"Xander doesn't care about what I think," Anya said. "He doesn't ask about my day, makes jokes during my pain-"

"Anya, I care about you, I do."

Althea got between the couple and held her arms out. "Okay, you two, settle down. Xander, you sit in the chair, Anya, you sit on the bed. Spike, stay behind me in case Xander feels like staking you."

Everyone followed Althea's instructions.

Althea turned to Anya. "Okay, Anya, what exactly do you want?"

"I want to know how much I mean to Xander." Turning towards her boyfriend, Anya continued. "How much do you actually care for me, huh? Do you really care or do you just want orgasms?"

Spike chuckled at Anya's bluntness, ignoring Xander's glare. The chuckle turned into full out laughter when Xander's glare turned into a look of fear as Althea turned to him.

She asked him pointedly, "Well, Xander? Do you have anything to say to that?"

"I...I care about you Anya, I really do." Xander got up from his chair and paced around the room, clearly searching for the right words to say.

Althea held up a hand. "Give me a second to read you two before this conversation goes on any further," she said, and began twisting the ring on her pointer finger and focusing her attention on Xander. The stone on the ring changed from white to a hot pink color.

"You sure you're reading Xander's heart there, luv?" Spike asked.

"Pink is a common color when it comes to new love," Althea replied.

"Yeah, well, I wish he could show me," Anya said dejectedly.

"Maybe you guys need to sleep on it. Separately," Althea added before Anya could blurt out anything more about orgasms. "And maybe in the future you can get to know one another outside of just sex."

"You're probably right," Xander said.

"Anya, Tara told me that Buffy's at her house so you can share my dorm with me tonight."

"Thanks, Althea." She stood up and made her way to Xander's bed to begin packing. Looking up suddenly, she added, "If I was the kind of woman who liked other women, I would definitely reward you with some orgasms tonight."

The thought of Althea and Anya sleeping together surprised Xander and made him blush.

"Ha!" Spike said, noticing the other boy's reaction. "The whelp is picturing you two naked right now!"

Althea and Anya laughed. "Come on, Spike, let's go," Althea said after rolling her eyes.

Althea, Anya, and Spike left for the UC Sunnydale campus, leaving Xander to fume all by himself.

###

Late in the evening, nearly everyone in the gang found themselves in new beds with a lot of new thoughts on their minds.

Willow and Tara stayed over at Buffy's house, Willow sleeping in the guest room and Tara sleeping in the living room.

Giles and Joyce escaped to the older woman's bedroom after clearing dinner from the table and spent most of the rest of the night talking about what Buffy had been going through. The talking, however, ended up leading to other things.

Meanwhile, in her dorm room, Althea sat wondering when she could talk to Buffy and how exactly she was gonna help Xander and Anya. Spike had been okay with Althea's insistence that he stay with them, so Althea created a sleeping space for the disguised vampire on the floor after she'd spent some time dissuading Anya from the idea of getting her orgasms from Spike.

Unbeknownst to Anya, Xander had made his way to the UC Sunnydale dorms and had fallen asleep outside of Althea's room, exhausted from his long walk there.

And unbeknownst to the town of Sunnydale, some Gentlemen were coming by...

###

Buffy woke up to a very peaceful and quiet morning. As she finished washing her face in the bathroom, she watched a neighbor walking his dog...only no sound could be heard coming out of the dog when it opened its mouth and started barking.

Confused, Buffy walked down the stairs and saw Willow and Tara in the living room, looking unusually close to each other.

She looked to them and opened her mouth to say "Good morning," but no words came out. She walked further into the living room until she had their attention and waved at her friends.

"What's going on?" Buffy mouthed.

Willow and Tara looked at each other in surprise. Willow mouthed "Can you hear me?"

Buffy shook her head.

Tara was too shy to talk, so she motioned to her throat, indicating that she, too, couldn't speak.

"Have we gone deaf?" Willow mouthed.

Buffy shook her head and grabbed a notepad and a pen from the pile of books on a nearby table. After scribbling for a moment, she showed the other two what she'd written. "We just can't talk," it read.

Willow nodded. She took the notepad from Buffy and wrote something down. "We need to get Althea and the others."

Although she was reluctant to see Althea again, Buffy nodded in agreement. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and turned around to see Giles and her mother, both of them dressed in robes.

"What's going on?" Joyce asked.

Buffy looked at them, opened her mouth in shock, and then shooed Willow and Tara out.

###

Willow and Tara walked through the town, observing the chaos going on around them. The bank was closed, the liquor store was open, and many people were running around town crying silently with worried looks on their faces.

To their surprise, they saw Anya and Xander walking with two other familiar-looking people. All four of them wore dry erase boards around their necks. Anya was the first to notice the two witches and signaled them. She held up a dry erase board.

"Willow, Tara, we were just on our way to Buffy's," it read.

Willow and Tara nodded. Tara gestured to a girl with bright red hair and freckles. The redhead handed Tara her dry erase board.

"Althea and I cast a glamour spell to disguise her and Spike," Tara wrote.

Willow nodded. She gestured to the group and led them back to Buffy's house.

###

Meanwhile, at Buffy's house, Buffy was trying to let the fact that Giles and her mother slept together again sink in, doing it in the only way she knew how: by digging into a pint of ice cream. As she licked the spoon, she noticed a book on the kitchen's small shelf: a book of fairy tales hidden between two cookbooks.

_I need some brain bleach_, she thought, and pulled out the book to start reading. She came across one fairy tale called "The Silent Town" and saw a familiar face in the illustrations.

After scanning the story for a few moments, Buffy grabbed the book from in front of her and ran out to the living room to shove the open pages in front of Giles. He looked down and saw a picture of the Gentlemen illustrated in one of the fairy tales.

When the doorbell rang, Joyce got up and opened the door, nodding in welcome to Willow and the others as they filed in. Tara quickly scribbled an explanation about Althea and Spike to Buffy, Joyce and Giles.

Buffy took a glance at Althea and Spike's new looks. Althea's new look made her come off as sweet, in contrast to her sassy personality. Spike, however, had the most surprising transformation. His bleach blonde hair was replaced by honey brown curls and a pair of wiry glasses framed his bright blue eyes. The signature black leather duster and punk rock attire was replaced with khaki pants and a crisp dark blue shirt that brought out his eyes. _If _this _was the vampire I met a year ago, I'd have a hard time believing it,_ Buffy thought. But her attention was brought back to the action at the sound of Xander scribbling.

"What's going on?" Xander's dry erase board read.

Everyone shook their head. Tara turned on the TV and everyone gathered to listen to the news report. The anchor spoke of a town-wide epidemic of laryngitis, as well as reports of stabbings, adding that the hearts of the murdered victims were missing.

Giles borrowed a dry erase board and wrote: "I need a projector."

Using her dry erase board, Althea quickly wrote: "My mirror can project." She took her mirror out of her bag and handed it to Giles. Scribbling furiously again, she turned her dry erase board around to Giles: "Just focus on what you need to show everyone. But don't let your mind wander."

Giles nodded. Using the magic he remembered from his Ripper days, he focused his thoughts on the mirror, which immediately shone a light onto the nearest empty wall. Words began appearing as Giles thought of them, accompanied by the illustrations from Buffy's fairy tale book.

"Who are the Gentlemen? Fairy Tale monsters that want hearts. No one knows why. They come to a town and steal all the voices so no one can scream. The need seven hearts. They have at least two."

Xander took his dry erase board and wrote: "How do you kill them?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and began pumping her fist into her lap as if she was staking. Spike and Xander, however, read the gesture differently. Buffy, uncomfortable under Spike's hungry stare, took a stake from her bag and pointed it at the vampire.

Immediately understanding her meaning, Giles shook his head.

The words on the wall cleared once again, then read: "According to the tales, no sword could destroy them. However, a princess screamed and they all died. They can't stand the human voice."

Willow took out a CD from her bag, pointed to its title - _Halloween Sounds_ - and gestured wildly.

Giles shook his head. The words on the wall changed once again to read: "Only a real human voice."

"How do I get my voice back?" Buffy wrote on her dry erase board.

Giles pointed back to the wall and words began forming from his thoughts of a plan: "We will form three teams. Buffy, Spike, and Althea will patrol the town."

Buffy looked at her two patrol partners and grimaced.

Giles' words continued. "Willow, Tara, and I will go to the Magic Box and look for a spell that doesn't require spoken words. Joyce, Xander, and Anya will hold down the fort here."

Joyce nodded. All of a sudden, the mirror projected an image of Joyce on the wall. Sporting a light gray shirt and a short black skirt, she appeared to be giggling as she spun around with her arms wide open. After a moment, it became painfully obvious that it was a memory of Giles's Band Candy night.

The image disappeared as Althea quickly grabbed the mirror out of Giles' hand, trying her best not to laugh. The older man's face became beet red and he made himself busy paging through the book of fairy tales once again. Joyce quickly looked down in her lap. Everyone else snickered silently.

Closing the book after a few moments, Giles motioned to Willow and Tara, and the three stood and headed out to the magic shop. Joyce gestured to Xander and Anya to help her clean some things up.

Xander moved some books down to the basement and noticed a leaking pipe.

"Mrs. Summers, your pipes need fixing," Xander wrote. "I can help install some new ones. After this is over."

"Thanks, Xander," Joyce wrote.

Anya glared at him, but continued helping with the tidying, secretly hoping that she would get her voice back soon. She stooped to grab a plate and stopped suddenly, frozen with shock as she noticed one of the Gentlemen's minions floating down the avenue towards the Summers residence. She raced to the wall, leaned against a bookshelf and pushed it towards the door, clearly hoping it would act as a barricade...only the minions clearly had other plans and tried crashing through the front window instead.

To her surprise, Xander leapt in front of her and began fighting them off with a few well-placed punches. All but one of the minions retreated back outside, and Xander hefted the one who'd snuck in back out of the window. Sensing a pause in the action, Xander then moved to the opposite end of the bookshelf and shoved it in front of the open window.

Anya and Xander checked the perimeter of the room and found that the minion who had come crashing through was the only one who'd successfully made it inside. Relieved that the impromptu battle was over, Anya pointed the index finger of one hand through a loop she made with the index finger and thumb of the other hand. Gesturing upstairs with the nod of her head, Xander instantly understood.

The two raced up the steps and into the guest bedroom that Willow had vacated.

###

Meanwhile, at the Magic Shop, Tara took a book of spells for silence and speech off the shelf. Joining hands with Willow, the two witches began mouthing a chant as a magical barrier started to rise over the magic shop.

Aware that a similar barrier was surrounding the Summers house across town as well, Giles stood watching the proficiency of the two witches and admiring their power. He began glancing around the shop; the owner was nowhere to be found.

It was then that he looked towards the front window and noticed the "For Sale" sign.

###

As day faded into night, Spike, Buffy, and Althea went patrolling around the silent town. Not long into their paces, they came across a Gentleman and soon found themselves surrounded his minions.

Falling back slightly, Althea watched Spike and Buffy, admiring their perfect synchronization as they fought off the Gentlemen's minions. They moved as if dancing together, fighting with their backs to each other, Spike snapping more than a few necks and Buffy breaking more than a few limbs.

The minions didn't get a chance to break them and were taken care of in no time. When the fight was over, Althea, Buffy and Spike walked to the next intersection and turned down the road leading to the clock tower. Althea smiled at the other two, flashing Buffy a knowing look. Buffy glanced quickly at Spike and blushed before looking away.

A while later, the three of them noticed a Gentleman carrying a heart and followed him, staying several steps behind, to the town clock tower. When they heard a rustle in the bushes nearby, they watched as Riley and his friend, Forrest, also walked into the clock tower.

"We need to take them out," Althea wrote on the dry erase board she'd been carrying.

Spike and Buffy nodded in agreement. Sharing a knowing look with Spike, the two blondes snuck silently behind Riley and Forrest and reached around to smother them, waiting until the two soldiers stilled, passed out, and slumped silently to the ground. Stepping over them, Buffy, Spike and Althea headed inside and up the stairs to the top of the clock tower.

Half a dozen Gentlemen and twice as many minions floated around the room at the top of the stairs, dancing with glee over the jars of hearts they had collected. Buffy noticed a box on the table and rushed over to it, grabbing the cube and throwing it against the nearest wall right before the minions could get a hold of her. The box shattered and hundreds of voices flew out of the jar, once of them billowing up into Buffy's mouth.

Taking a deep breath and drawing back her shoulders, Buffy screamed with all her might. Althea and Spike, both having experienced the return of their own billowing voices, backed her up.

The Gentlemen and minions exploded into piles of green goo that scattered all over the walls.

###

Spike departed for his cave as Althea and Buffy began making their way back to the UC Sunnydale dorms.

"I'm so sorry for giving you too much info about my mission," Althea said, giving Buffy a hug when they'd reached their bedroom.

"I'm sorry for running off like that," Buffy said. "It was just a lot to take in."

"I know. But right now, with the semester practically over, I can finally help you open your heart."

"You can?" Buffy raised her eyebrows hopefully as she watched Althea amble over to her bed and take the Gem of Amara out of her purse.

"This is the real Gem of Amara," she said, tucking her recently-red hair behind an ear. "I'm supposed to give it to you and only you. It will make you invulnerable, obviously, but there's something else about the ring you should know."

"What?" Buffy whispered.

"If I bless the ring, you will instantly know your heart's desire. You...and your heart have to be ready for that."

Buffy frowned and folded her arms. "I don't know if I _am_ ready."

"And that's where I come in. Once finals are over, we're gonna meet up somewhere and I'll take you on a journey through your heart to help you open it."

Buffy took a deep breath and threw her shoulders back like she had in front of the Gentlemen. Nodding once, she replied, "Sounds like a plan to me. Fortune favors the brave, after all."

* * *

A/N: Assume that the events that happened in _Angel _in regards to the Gem of Amara happened with a different vampire. Also assume that Giles and Joyce had a lot of unresolved sexual tension. (I definitely do!)

Next chapter, we take a journey into the heart of one Buffy Summers. What do you think we'll see in there?

Please like and review. The Initiative will be put on the back burner, but don't think I haven't forgotten them!


	8. Chapter 8: The Heart of the Slayer

Get ready for an art history lesson, readers, as we journey into Buffy's heart. I will list the artworks that I based the paintings off of in the end notes.

Thanks to my beta, Danielle, and to whoever nominated me to be Author of the Month for September on Elysian Fields and whoever made my story a featured fic on the site!

Xander won't be appearing in this chapter due to him working overtime for his construction company. He has to get that Christmas bonus, after all.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Althea.

* * *

Thanks to what remained of Tara's and Willow's protection spell, finals week went by without any incident from the Initiative. At the end of the semester, Riley and his comrades were sent to their hometowns and things took on a strange calm.

After much discussion and a lot of debate, Giles talked Willow into letting him mentor her in magic. He was thankful she'd finally agreed, especially since he'd taken ownership of the magic shop.

He'd also hired Anya to act as the store's manager and the head of finances. The ex-demon proved to be a big help on opening day, handling the huge crowd of holiday shoppers looking for candles and other trinkets with great efficiency. Althea, Buffy, Willow, and Tara also lent their own helping hands, earning some shopping money in the process.

When Giles finally closed up the Magic Box at the end of its first day back open, Althea followed Buffy back to her house on Revello Drive with a bag of magic supplies in hand. After greeting Joyce, the two girls went up to Buffy's room to set everything up.

"Before we start the ritual, I have some things I need to tell you," Althea said.

"Like what?" Buffy asked

"When we take the journey into your heart, neither of us can go in with secrets or lies because the heart is incapable of lying. The mind can be deceived, but the heart is always true."

"I'm feeling pretty non-secrety. Does that mean you kept a secret from me?" Buffy smiled knowingly.

Althea returned the smile and nodded. "When we went to Los Angeles, I planted a thought in your heart to stay away from Angel. I kind of did the same to him, too." She took her mirror out of her bag. "Mirror, show me the ties that bind Buffy and Angel together."

Buffy looked in the small glass as it reflected scenes showing how little help Angel had actually given her while he was in Sunnydale and how very out of sync he and Buffy appeared when they fought side by side.

"Did Angel have the desire to keep me at a distance?" Buffy asked.

Althea closed her compact and nodded. "I talked to him and the Powers recently, Buffy, and there's a reason for the distance. Angel has his own mission to fulfill."

"I understand." And she did. Then a thought occurred to her, causing Buffy to bite her lower lip in doubt. "And while we're divulging secrets, I guess I should tell you that while I am still open to the idea of maybe, possibly being in love with Spike, I'm still attracted to Riley." After a beat, she added, "and I still miss Angel."

Althea nodded. "I know. It's part of the reason why we're gonna take this journey in the first place. So are you ready?"

Buffy nodded and sat down beside the bed. Shifting position so she sat across from Buffy, Althea took a large candle out of the bag of supplies and set it between them on top of the coverlet. Grabbing a handful of rose petals out of the bag next, she scattered them around the candle. Althea then lit the candle's wick and took Buffy's hands.

Buffy closed her eyes as her friend started chanting.

"Goddess Aphrodite, we ask that you let us into Buffy's heart. As we journey through Buffy's heart, we ask that you help her be open to love." Althea closed her eyes once she felt the heat of the candle begin to warm up the room. She waited a few moments as the magic enveloped them then reopened her eyes and looked to Buffy, who sat with her eyes still closed tight.

"Open your eyes, Buffy," Althea said.

Buffy did, first noticing that Althea returned to how she looked the day they first met, with dark hair and grey eyes. Then she realized she was standing in a brightly lit art gallery, similar to the one her mother owned.

"This is my heart?" Buffy asked.

"Metaphorically speaking, yes," Althea said. "Most of the trips I've taken like this throughout time have been some kind of art display. It's like it's always been the best way for people to express their feelings and describe their perspectives on things. Some hearts I've journeyed into took the form of movie theatres or music stores. Other people's hearts are like libraries or comic book stores. I guess _this_ kind of art appreciation runs in the family."

Buffy nodded, continuing to look at the artwork hanging on what she assumed were the walls of her heart. Some were collages of her favorite movie stars and foods she liked. Others were watercolor paintings depicting her most cherished memories. Suddenly, a section of the room labeled with the words "People Buffy Loves" caught her eye.

"That is where we're going to head," Althea said, taking the lead.

Buffy followed Althea as she walked into that section, and the first painting that caught Buffy's eye was one of her mother. Joyce was facing the opposite direction as if walking away from the painting, but her face was turned over her shoulder and she was gazing back at Buffy with a warm smile.

"It's a very interesting perspective of your mother," Althea said.

"Yeah, but it makes sense to me. She was always walking ahead of me, protecting me as a child."

Buffy at the wall looked below Joyce's painting, noticing a small glass display with a miniature depiction of her father.

"Wow. I guess my father does have a place in my heart after all."

"You may not like him for leaving your mother, but if it wasn't for him, you'd never be born. Come on, there are more paintings to see."

Following Althea's lead, Buffy moved away from her parents' images and looked at other paintings of people she loved. She noted that Willow's painting hung close to Tara's, and that the two were designed with similar, sweeping brush strokes. Tara's painting portrayed the girl as a ballet dancer, locked in an arabesque filled with poise, grace, and a sweet air. In Willow's painting, the redhead was sitting under a willow tree on a bright spring day with a book about Wicca in her hand. Willow's face smiled out at Buffy, and Buffy couldn't help but smile back. Anya and Xander were shown together on their own canvas, dancing, and Buffy was surprised to note that Anya's face was partially obscured by Xander's.

"Do I think so little of Anya?" Buffy asked.

"You kind of see her as just there sometimes," Althea said. "She could be really useful to the team, with all those years as a demon."

"We definitely need more girl nights," Buffy said, resolving to include Anya more. "I don't want her to feel like she's on the sidelines."

All of a sudden, the painting changed. Anya's face was now as prominent as Xander's and the two seemed to be happily dancing together.

"See the power a change of heart can do?" Althea said.

Buffy nodded in understanding, though she was a bit shocked at the abrupt transformation. Turning around, she saw a painting of Giles, standing by a bookshelf in Sunnydale High's library. He stood with a proud air and a gentle smile.

"I think this painting speaks for itself," Althea said. She looked over at a nearby painting and gasped. "Oh my goddess, that's me!"

Althea marveled at the sight of her painting, which reminded her of something she'd once seen by Botticelli. She was draped in a white toga and had gold slippers on her feet. Her bow and arrows were set off to the side. Her hand was placed over her heart, displaying the ring she wore.

"You have really good taste, Buffy," Althea said. "I love it."

Buffy blushed. When she looked at the piece hanging next to Althea's, she found it unusual that she couldn't see the face of the person in the painting. The painting itself portrayed a bright spring morning with a young girl facing away from the viewer, gazing out at the dawn. Buffy passed by the painting, but continued contemplating it as she turned the corner into a dark room with four paintings.

One had a black frame surrounding it. The painting itself showed an angelic face that was partially obscured by a silhouette.

"That's Angel, isn't it?" Buffy asked.

"Yep," Althea said. " That black frame represents the thought I planted in your head. It's no coincidence that his painting is sort of hidden off in a dark room. This room represents what you have kept hidden from yourself."

Buffy nodded as she looked at the next painting. It portrayed a soldier whose body was made up of bullets, miniature grenades, rifles, guns, and dog tags. It wasn't until Buffy took a step back that she finally saw the face in the painting: Riley Finn.

"This is kind of disturbing," Buffy said. "I always thought that Riley was cute."

"The mind often thinks one thing while the heart sees another," Althea said. "Your heart took into account the fact that Riley's life revolves around a world with too much structure, built on the kind of violence that can destroy entire countries. And as far as Angel's is concerned, you can see a lot of chaos in that portrait."

Buffy nodded and turned to look at the last two paintings in the dark corner. The first one that caught her eye was a painting of Spike. The painting appeared almost as real as a photograph, but it was the way Spike was portrayed that surprised Buffy. He wore his black leather duster, but instead of the bright red shirt and tight pants that contributed to his signature look, he was dressed in a white shirt with a red waistcoat and black trousers. His fangs were prominent and obvious in his smile, but his face remained human instead of sprouting the ugly vampire bumpies he got when he vamped out.

"This is how I see Spike?" Buffy sat down in front of the painting and marveled at the sight of it.

"Amazing, isn't it? The mirror revealed to me that you know how to get under his skin, that you know what makes him tick and how well you guys fight together. It's no surprise that his painting is the most realistic one here."

Buffy nodded and felt a warmth spreading throughout her body. She turned to see an equally large painting next to Spike's. She recognized her own face and the familiar updo hairstyle she always wore, but was surprised at how the painting portrayed her. She stood with a cemetery in the background as if she just left from a night of patrol. Her face had a victorious smile and she held her stake proudly. Most interestingly was that her other hand held a sparkly yellow umbrella that partially obscured the cemetery and that she wore the white dress and leather jacket she wore when she went to face the Master.

"There's a strange balance to this painting," Buffy said.

"A balance you have yet to realize, Buffy," Althea said. "This is how you ultimately wish to be. As much as you desire to be a normal girl, there is always a part of you that needs to be the Slayer. This painting shows that you don't have to embrace the darkness to be a good Slayer. In fact, by simply being who you are now, you've already lived longer than most."

Buffy laughed proudly. "So I guess now I just have to balance being the hero and being the normal girl."

Althea nodded. "So do you think you know what you want?"

Buffy nodded. "If I'm gonna be the Slayer, I need someone who can balance me out and support me in battle. And although Angel and my friends want me to be with someone who's normal, it's clear that I want something else. I need someone who will fight by my side, stand by me without protecting me or assuming that they know what's best for me, and most of all, understand what I'm feeling because I'm not so good with the whole emotional wordy thing."

As Buffy spoke her heart's desire, the room began to light up. The paintings of Angel and Riley disappeared as the paintings of Spike and Buffy merged together. Althea and Buffy looked in awe at the large painting that hung prominently in the room. It portrayed Spike and Buffy smiling at each other, holding hands. Spike still wore the outfit from his previous painting. The yellow umbrella from Buffy's painting sat at the bottom, next to a stake, a pack of cigarettes, and a zippo lighter. But Buffy's outfit completely changed. She now wore a ballgown that seemed to be made out of spun gold, a pair of gold earrings that had a miniature stake crossing over with a railroad spike in the shape of an X, and the biggest smile she ever saw.

Buffy was left speechless at the sight of the new painting.

"I think you are ready for the Gem of Amara now," Althea said. "Close your eyes and when I count to three, you will open your eyes and we will be back in your room."

Buffy closed her eyes, memorizing the beautiful painting she saw as Althea finished her countdown and snapped her fingers.

When Buffy opened her eyes again, she found herself in her room again, seated across from Althea, who was holding the Gem of Amara in her hand.

"Aphrodite, I ask you to bless this ring so that Buffy's mind will always know her heart's desire. Let this ring protect her from all harm so that she may fulfill her mission of protecting the world from those who want to destroy it. And link this ring with the duplicate worn by William Pratt so that their strength may be shared. So mote it be."

Althea handed the ring to Buffy. As the blonde stood up and put the ring on, Althea summoned her bow and arrows.

"Shall we teleport over to Spike's to finish the process?" Althea asked.

Buffy nodded and smiled for the first time in what felt like forever.

Moments later, the two ladies appeared in Spike's cave, where the vampire stood waiting for them, still looking like William. Buffy blushed as she walked to him and grabbed his hand, facing him.

Althea took out two red arrows. "While I would usually start with a white arrow to catalyze attraction, it was clear that you were already attracted to Spike. These arrows will bring out the potential love that you have for each other." With a giggle, she added, "I seriously love this part of my job."

Spike and Buffy barely heard Althea's explanation, though, because they were busy getting lost in each other's eyes. They barely felt a thing as Althea's arrows landed on their hearts. The two of them were surrounded by red sparks that flew around them as the gems on their rings changed from green to red. The next thing Buffy knew, she felt Spike's lips on her own. The red sparks disappeared as the kiss grew deeper, more passionate. Without saying a word, Althea teleported away.

"Spike...I love you," Buffy said as Spike kissed her neck.

He pressed his body against hers and ran his hands down her back. She moaned as she clawed at his chest.

"Slayer," Spike whispered in her ear.

The next thing he knew, Buffy pushed him hard to the ground with her legs straddled around him, grinding against him. She supported herself with her arms and brushed her hair against his face, teasing him.

Spike pulled her arms out from under her, enjoying the sound of her laughter as she fell onto his chest. He rolled her over so that he lay on top of her.

"Oh Buffy...I love you. Cor, I love you, so."

They continued kissing, but Spike pulled back as he felt Buffy reach under his shirt.

"Take it easy, luv," Spike said. "We have plenty of time for that. I need to buy you dinner first, don't I?"

Buffy laughed and nodded. Spike joined in her laughter as he led her out of the cave and into town for their first date.

* * *

Go to Google or Wikipedia/Wikiart if you want to get a better look at the paintings. I hope that you get inspired to make fanart of the paintings portrayed in the chapter, or even better, make a banner art for this fic!

In order of appearance:

Joyce: The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

Hank: miniature portraits

Tara: Edgar Degas and his many paintings of ballet dancers

Willow: Monet's Woman Under the Willows

Anya and Xander: Renoir's Dance in the Country

Giles: Based on the paintings of Allan Ramsay, who's most famous for his painting of King George III.

Althea: Botticelli's La Bella Simonetta.

Dawn: A mix of Rococo style paintings and a sketch of Jane Austen that shows her facing away from the viewer.

Angel: Georges Braque's Figure Double

Riley: Fire by Giuseppe Arcimbolo

Spike: Based on the portraits by William Powell Frith

Buffy: James Whistler's Rose and Silver, The Princess from the Land of Porcelain

Spike and Buffy's painting: Not really based on anything except my own imagination. Too bad I can't draw to save my life, let alone paint!

Like and review? Please and thank you!


	9. Chapter 9: Resolved

This is the calm before the storm so to speak. I'm not gonna update as much as usual because I'm working on my novel. But I figured that for ever chapter of my novel that I complete, I'll write up a chapter of this fic, so hope I do well!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Althea and the events that take place in this fanfic.

* * *

Christmas 1999-Buffy's house.

"Happy Christmas, luv," Spike said as he handed Buffy a present.

Buffy gave Spike a small kiss as she unwrapped the gift and opened the box inside. "Oh Spike, it's beautiful." She held up an emerald pendant that hung from a gold chain.

"You know, I still have access to the treasure where the gem of Amara is found. If there's anything you want from there…"

Buffy shook her head. "We can have Giles and the others look over it; maybe it can help Giles fund the magic shop." With a smile, she added, "and I wouldn't be opposed to having some shopping money every now and then."

"Speaking of Giles and the others, when do you want to tell them?"

"It's enough right now that Althea knows, and I think Anya and Tara have their suspicions. But Willow and Xander are still adjusting to having you on the team. I promise once the new year starts, they'll know. Besides, I kind of like having you to myself."

Spike nodded. "Not that you really share that often, anyway."

The two of them giggled, off in their own world.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Giles and Joyce were sharing hot chocolate as they watched Spike and Buffy.

"I'm surprised you took the news so well," Joyce revealed.

"Althea and I had a long talk," Giles said, "She showed me what I said to Buffy when she was with Angel. I realized that whatever anger I had at Spike was really directed at Angel."

"And now?"

"While it's still rather odd for me to see Buffy in love with a vampire again, she looks forward to patrolling more now. If Spike can make her a better Slayer, it's great but..."

"Nobody will ever be good enough for her," Joyce finished with a knowing smile. "I kind of feel the same way. I'm still used to her being in constant danger, but it helps that she has Spike, Althea, and you."

Joyce blushed as Giles held her hand affectionately.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Althea found herself wandering around South LA. The demon community was always quiet in the winter, so she was starting to lose hope that she would find the person she was looking for until she saw a familiar pick up truck driving down the road.

"Don't tell me you got lost again," Gunn smiled out of the driver's window as he slowed down to talk to Althea.

She blushed. "Nope. Actually, I was looking for you." She took out a small package from her coat pocket and gave it to him. "I wanted to give this to you to thank you for helping me."

Gunn parked the pickup truck against the curb and jumped out. He took the package out of Althea's hand.

"So, I guess things worked out with your friend?" he asked.

Althea nodded. "Yeah. She's with someone new now and I'm on break from school. I'm currently working winter break over here."

"What kind of job do you do?"

Althea grinned. "I'm a matchmaker. And a relationship counselor."

"So why are you all the way in the wrong side of the tracks?"

Althea blushed. "I wanted to see somebody. Someone who helped me when I was in a really bad state of mind and didn't think twice about helping a stranger. You don't meet that kind of people nowadays."

"I'd like to think we're more like diamonds in the rough." He opened the package and smiled at the sight of his own reflection. "Well, thanks...but I'm not exactly a makeup kind of person."

Althea giggled. "It's not a makeup compact, it's a hand mirror. For when you're looking for vampires."

"Thanks," Gunn said. "It makes me kind of glad I decided to get you something."

Althea's eyes widened. "Really?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know why, but I couldn't get you out of my head after I dropped you off at the Sunset Strip."

He opened the glove compartment and took out a brown paper package tied up with string. Althea untied the string and opened the package to reveal a beautiful white scarf decorated with red hearts.

"Don't know why, but seeing that made me think of you," Gunn said.

"Thanks, Gunn," Althea said, putting on the scarf. "How did you get this?"

"You really don't want to know."

Trying to hide her laughter, Althea settled for a quiet giggle. "I don't know if you have any plans, but there are a lot of singles parties happening on the other side of the tracks and well...I have to do my job there."

"I can clean up a bit, depending on where you're going."

"Does that mean you'll be my date this Christmas?"

"Maybe." Gunn returned to the driver's seat and opened the passenger door.

Althea giggled as she got in Gunn's truck.

###

December 31, 1999

Everyone was gathered at Buffy's house to celebrate the coming of the new year.

"No date, Althea?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, no, I'm seeing someone," Althea said with a blush. "It's just kind of a long-distance relationship and it's only been going on for a week. He's gonna call me tonight, though. I haven't told him about the whole Cupid thing yet."

"So," Xander said, "what do you guys have for your resolutions? Personally, I can't think of any because I love my new job and I have a wonderful girlfriend."

"How about moving out of your parents' basement?" Anya asked matter-of-factly. "You can save a lot of money from your job and get an apartment. And I can help, since I'm a working girl now!"

"I think I can guess what your resolution is then, Anya," Buffy said with a smile.

Anya nodded. "More money and orgasms, and hopefully no bunnies."

"I guess you'll have to stay away from the Easter decorations then!" Althea said.

Anya blanched as Althea laughed at her expected reaction.

"Hey, Cherub, why are you back to being a brunette?" Spike asked.

"No need to worry, Spike," Althea said. "I'll be donning strawberry blonde locks soon enough. I kind of didn't want to be mistaken for Willow, that's all."

Later on, everyone counted down along with the people of New York City in a rebroadcast of the annual New Year's Rockin' Eve special. As everyone shouted "Happy New Year," some of the partygoers kissed their loved ones while others enjoyed the champagne.

Two, however, simply stood in shock. Willow and Xander were starting at Spike and Buffy as the two blondes were kissing well past the end of "Auld Lang Syne." Althea pulled Willow and Xander aside before either of them had the chance to make a scene.

Althea stood with her arms folded. "Willow, Xander, I know that this is a lot to take in. And I prepared myself for this."

"But he-" Willow said.

"But she-" Xander said simultaneously.

Althea held her hand up, quieting the both of them.

"I had to give this talk to Giles a few weeks ago. He already knows and he's given his reluctant blessing."

"But-"

Althea glared at the two of them. "Willow, Xander, both of you have had your share of dangerous liaisons in the past. Willow, you dated Oz and I suspect you still have feelings for him."

Willow looked down at her feet and nodded.

"And Xander, Anya may be a human now, but she used to be a vengeance demon. Not to mention the Inca Mummy Girl and the preying mantis."

Xander nodded, not certain as to where Althea was going.

"I know that Spike has kidnapped you guys before, hoping that Willow could cast a spell over Drusilla. Xander, didn't you do something similar when it came to Cordelia?"

"Hey, now, I didn't kidnap anyone, if that's what you're getting at!" Xander said.

"I meant doing a love spell," Althea said.

Xander blushed. "Oh, yeah. I did do that."

"Let me paint a scenario for you. Say that you and Anya are together for a lot longer than a few months or even a year. And you loved her with everything you had and she was all of a sudden put into a dangerous situation and the only one who can help is someone you consider an enemy. How would you treat that enemy?"

"I would hate to ask that enemy for help and threaten him if he messed up or did something that put Anya in danger."

"Exactly. Willow, same question, only think about Oz."

Willow looked up. "I would basically turn the world upside down if it meant saving Oz from danger."

"And that's exactly what Spike was doing. And let's be honest, you guys got out of that situation without him killing either one of you. It could've been a lot worse, you know."

Willow and Xander thought about the aftermath of Oz and Cordelia finding the both of them and looked away from each other in shame.

"It's gonna take some getting used to, but as you can see, you guys are the only ones surprised that this happened at all."

Willow and Xander looked out at the party, particularly at Spike, who was doing his best to get along with everyone. With the glamour spell still on him, Spike reminded them of their friend Jesse. Althea looked down at her ring as she read Xander's heart and saw a sad shade of blue-gray.

"Xander," Althea said, "if you ever feel like you want to talk about stuff with me…"

Xander turned to Althea and nodded.

"It's gonna take some getting used to," Xander said.

Willow nodded in agreement. "I think we know what our new year's resolution is gonna be."

The three friends returned to the party.

###

January 7, 2000

Althea and Xander went to the Magic Box after Xander finished work for the day. Anya was busy examining the treasure that Spike and Buffy brought over.

"This is the biggest treasure trove I've ever seen," Anya said. "I'm getting orgasms just looking at it!"

"Perspehone was the one who created the treasure trove," Althea said. "Her husband considers it his nest egg gift to you guys."

"So why exactly am I here again?" Xander asked.

"Anya needs to be here for this. My policy is that when you love somebody, you cannot have any secrets from them."

Xander turned pale and stared down at his feet.

"It's okay, Xander," Althea said, sitting Xander down at the table. "One thing you should know is that I don't judge." She turned to Anya and said, "Anya, will I need to send any arrows your way to calm you down?"

Anya shook her head and took a deep breath. "I promise that I'll listen to Xander. But I think I will need a stress ball or something."

Althea tossed Anya a stress ball from her bag. Then she turned to Xander.

"Now remember, Xander, I'm going to be reading your heart, so there's no, you know, going into any rivers in Egypt here, okay?"

Xander nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay."

"So Xander, I saw that you were kind of sad when you were looking at Spike at the New Year's party. As much as Anya might like the idea, I don't think you have a crush on Spike."

Xander shook his head. "Spike...with his new look, kind of reminded me of a friend I lost. His name was Jesse and he was turned by Darla a few years ago. I still have nightmares about confronting him, about what he said to me."

"I can understand why you would be afraid of demons after that, even hate them," Althea said. "You're a great asset to the team because you remind them about what they're fighting for. You're the heart of the team. But your heart is filled with so much fear right now." She showed Xander her ring, which glowed a dark shade of gray.

"That's not exactly a good forecast," Xander said.

"So tell me, Xander, what are you afraid of?"

Xander looked at Anya and then at Althea.

"I never felt like I contributed anything to the group. Buffy never loved me...and I'm okay with that, I am. I just wanted some sense of normalcy in between all the demon chasing. But like Willow said, I kind of ended up being a demon magnet instead. And every time it happened, it felt like I was betraying Jesse."

"There's something else, though."

Xander nodded. "There's a reason Anya wants me to get out of my parents' basement. My parents aren't what you would call functional. I love Anya but I don't want us to turn into them."

Anya let go of the stress ball and let it bounce on the floor. She ran up to Xander and hugged him, kissed him on the cheek. "Aw, Xander, I wish I had my powers back," Anya said. "I never did wishes for men, but if I could, I'd wreak vengeance on your parents for making you feel like this."

Althea took out her compact. "Anya's right. You have a lot more in you than you think. Mirror, show Xander a glimpse of his future."

Xander and Anya looked at the mirror and watched as it showed Xander partaking in a spell that would strengthen Buffy during a battle with the Initiative. The image was immediately followed by one of Xander being split into two by a demon.

"Ooh, two Xanders," Anya said breathily.

Althea laughed. "Look at how the more confident side of Xander acts. He takes initiative, he's confident. But there's also a cocky side to him. Sound like someone you know?"

Xander nodded. Anya's eyes stayed lit up, knowing who Xander was thinking of.

Althea glared at Anya. "Calm down. I think you just might give yourself an orgasm if you keep going down the group sex train of thought."

For once in her life, Anya looked down at her feet and blushed. Xander laughed at the change.

"Okay. We need to use part of the treasure we found to get you guys a nice place to live. Getting out of a toxic environment is the first step to healing."

Xander nodded.

"We're gonna meet up time and time again to tackle some other things, but right now, what can you say about Anya and Spike, aside from what Anya wishes she could be doing?"

Xander laughed. "I do want to know more about Anya's past. At some point she was a human like me and she has way more baggage than I do, but I think I can accept her past. As for Spike...if Buffy really loves him, I'm willing to give him a chance. He should know, though, that I will stake him if he even thinks about hurting her."

Althea nodded. "Don't worry. Buffy would probably stake him first."

###

January 11, 2000

Buffy woke up in her dorm as she felt the room shaking.

"Earthquake," Buffy said. "Not good."

Knowing Buffy's history with earthquakes, Althea nodded in agreement.

"I'm gonna go to Spike," Buffy said. "You check on Giles and the others."

Althea nodded, and the two girls changed out of their pajamas and into regular clothes and then headed out.

Althea met with Giles at the Magic Box, where Willow and Tara were starting their first magic lesson with Giles.

"You guys all felt that earthquake right?" Althea asked.

"Yeah," Willow said. "I was coming here from the library. Almost got buried in 19th Century English Literature. And I don't have to tell you how hard it is to dig through some of that stuff."

Tara giggled shyly. "You okay?" she asked.

Althea nodded. "Buffy's checking on Spike." She turned to Anya and asked, "Where's Xander?"

"Xander told me he's doing construction work, given recent events," Anya said.

"W-W-Willow and I are gonna go to this party in Porter dorm."

"Coolness," Althea said. She turned to Anya and said, "You wanna come with us?"

Anya shook her head. "Xander and I finally found a really good apartment. We're gonna be moving out of his parents' basement at last!"

Althea nodded and turned to Giles. "Giles, Buffy wanted to know if the earthquake possibly meant anything?"

Giles shook his head. "Earthquakes aren't an uncommon occurrence in Southern California. Until evidence suggests otherwise, I'm going to assume that this was the natural result of shifting land masses. In the meantime, I'm teaching Willow and Tara some defense spells for when we face off against the Initiative."

"Teach them some offensive skills too," Althea said. "Knowing what I know, they're probably scouting the town as we speak."

Meanwhile, over at Restfield cemetery, Buffy found Spike wandering around, still looking like a modern day version of his human self.

Buffy called out to him and they ran to each other until Buffy found herself in Spike's arms.

"I got out of my cave as soon as I could," Spike said. "But I'm gonna need to stay somewhere."

"Well, lucky for you, you can choose between the guest bedroom or the basement at my place," Buffy said.

"I almost wish that you could kick Althea out and I could be your new roommate."

"Hey, don't say that about the one who brought us together in the first place!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

The two of them were heading out of the cemetery when Buffy recognized a familiar face.

"Buffy?" Riley Finn asked.

"Oh Riley," Buffy said. "Hi."

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I was just out for a walk with my boyfriend," Buffy said, holding Spike's hand tightly. "William, this is Riley, the TA in my psychology class."

Spike kept his face neutral, but his other hand was curling in and out of a fist.

"Does he go to UC Sunnydale?" Riley asked.

"He's out of college, actually," Buffy said.

"I'm a friend of Xander's," Spike said in an American accent, his eyes widening when he realized how well he was pulling off the unfamiliar dialect.

Buffy flashed an appreciative smile at Spike before telling Riley, "and we were just heading to town to meet with my roommate. I'll see you in class, okay?"

Riley nodded. "Yeah. Sure."

Back at Porter Dorm, Althea, Tara, and Willow found themselves in the midst of a wild party, with lots of coeds wearing glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces. Willow spotted a familiar face standing with a sorority girl and a young Asian man.

"Percy!" Willow said, waving at him.

"Willow!" Percy said. "What's going on?"

"Oh stuff," Willow said. "Thought you got that scholarship to USC."

"I did. Laurie goes here."

Laurie waved at Willow and the other two girls. "Hey."

Willow turned to her friends and said, "Girls, this is Percy. We went to high school together. Percy, this is Althea and Tara."

Percy nodded. "Oh yeah, this is Kenta. He said that he's an international student from Japan who's studying here."

"Konbonwa," Kenta said, bowing respectfully at them. His dark eyes met Tara's and both of them blushed. "It's nice to meet you," he said with a clear voice.

Noticing the reaction on Tara's face, Althea decided to get right to work. "So Kenta, what are you studying?"

"I'm studying History," he said. "But I'm also taking a class about mythology."

"That's so cool. You know, Tara and I had mythology together. Maybe you can compare and contrast between East and West."

Giving Tara a gentle shove, Kenta and Tara went off to discuss mythology.

"So how's Oz?" Percy asked Willow.

Willow turned pale. "Oh Oz. Well, um actually, he's…"

Althea jumped right in, noticing Willow's discomfort and Laurie's desire to ditch. "Oz is doing just fine. Now if you'll excuse us, I think I hear my song."

Althea led Willow out onto the dance floor.

"You okay?" Althea asked.

Willow shook her head. "Percy seemed like he didn't really want to be seen with me. And he was so nice to me last year. And I miss Oz so much."

"Hey, hey. No need to worry. I think if we ask Giles nicely, we can find out where Oz is and you can write to him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Unfortunately, the party took a dark turn when Percy and Laurie discovered the dead body of a partygoer in a room they intended to use for a hookup session. Buffy and Spike arrived at the party and saw Willow, Tara, and Althea waving at them.

"Willow told me there was a party going on," Buffy said. "And then I saw the flashing red lights and the ambulance and it's like...oh, right, of course. Carnage. Death. It's a Buffy party."

"Percy and his girlfriend found the body," Willow said. "I was going upstairs to go to the restroom and saw it. So much blood. Godfather horse-head amounts of blood, hold the horse. And there was a symbol. And I overheard Percy tell his girlfriend I was a nerd."

"Percy called you a nerd?!" Buffy asked.

"W-we should probably report to Giles," Tara said.

"Tara's right," Althea said. "The earthquake might be more than we thought."

Back at the magic shop, the Scooby Gang went straight into research mode. Buffy happily did a "told ya so" dance when Giles realized that the earthquake and the symbol Willow saw were connected.

"I recognize that symbol," Spike said. "We saw that back in Restfield."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

A short while later, Buffy and Spike found themselves at Restfield Cemetery at a mausoleum with the symbol carved on its doorpost. Spike opened the heavy stone doors to find a demon hunched over a child-sized casket. Buffy shot the demon with an arrow, but her aim was slightly off and the arrow hit the shoulder instead. Spike punched the demon while Buffy armed herself with another arrow. She shot it through the heart while Spike twisted the demon's neck and snapped it, killing it instantly.

Buffy and Spike smiled at each other and headed out of the mausoleum only to find someone walking towards it.

"Buffy, William," Riley said in surprise.

"Riley," Buffy said with the most neutral voice she could muster.

"It's kind of late to still be out on a walk."

"We just came back from a party over in Porter," Spike said, keeping his American accent intact.

"I never got your last name," Riley said.

"It's William Pra-"

"Patterson," Buffy said, elbowing Spike in the gut. "William Patterson."

"Okay. See you later Buffy."

As Buffy and Spike walked away, they overheard Riley talking into his walkie-talkie. "This is Lilac One…"

Buffy and Spike giggled. "Lilac? What a wanker!" Spike said, his British accent returning.

"So not commandery."

The next day, Giles was able to identify the demon as a Vahrall demon and that it attempted to dig up the bones of a child as part of a ritual called the Sacrifice of Three.

"Well, we already stopped them from getting the bones of a child," Buffy said.

"But it probably has friends who could easily have gotten another set of bones anyway," Anya said. "Vahrall demons travel in groups."

"Anya's right," Althea said. "Do any of the books here have something on what this Word of Valios is?"

Tara pulled out a book and looked through it. "I-it's a talisman," she said. She held the book up and showed the picture to everyone.

"Oh, dear," Giles said. "I have that amongst some other things at my flat."

"Then that's probably where they're headed now," Buffy said.

Unfortunately, the Scooby Gang arrived at Giles's apartment too late. The talisman was long gone.

"So I guess the million dollar question now is," Xander said, "where exactly is the ritual going to take place?"

Giles held up the book from the magic shop. "According to the book Tara found, the ritual opens the Hellmouth...the one at the library."

"Looks like we're going back to high school."

The Scooby Gang went to the ruins of Sunnydale High later that night. With the information from the book Tara found, Spike and Buffy were able to fight and destroy the demons without causing a second earthquake. The eight of them left the high school with a victorious wind at their backs.

"I'm gonna see if I can talk to my boss about having the school reconstructed," Xander said.

"I'll be moving things into our new apartment," Anya said.

"Althea, do you think you can help me write a letter to Oz?" Willow asked.

"Sure," Althea said. Turning to Giles, she said, "Hey Giles, can you help Willow with something?"

Giles nodded.

"What about you, Glinda?" Spike asked.

"I-I-I guess I'll go back to my dorm and study. I'm starting History class tomorrow."

"Too bad," Spike said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I love fighting demons more than killing humans. Demons put up a better fight. I'm itching for another one."

Buffy laughed. "Too bad that's all the demon fighting I'm up for...unless you want to go back to my place for some sparring practice." She gave him a knowing look and the two of them ran off for "sparring practice."

###

Meanwhile at the Initiative base, Maggie Walsh and Riley Finn were walking down the corridors of the base, down Hallway 3.

"The research I did confirms that Buffy Summers is something called The Slayer," Riley Finn said. "The Slayer is more than just a myth. She could be a great asset to the Initiative."

"And what about her friends?" Maggie Walsh asked.

"Not much except the fact that Rupert Giles was involved with a cult that worshipped the demon Eyghon before he became part of something called The Watcher's Council. He was fired, though, for reasons unknown."

"And no information as to the whereabouts of the escaped hostiles?"

Riley shook his head. "What information did we have on them anyway?"

Maggie gave him two files. "Hostile 18 was a typical vampire, but Hostile 17 can be much more useful. It's clear that it isn't human, but I don't think it's a witch, either. You need to be on surveillance for Buffy and her friends. It's likely that Miss Summers would know something about Hostile 17."

Riley Finn nodded as he approached a door marked 317.

"What are we doing here?" Riley asked.

"I wanted to show you what I've been working on ever since I recruited you," Maggie said.

She removed a white cloth draped over a table to reveal a grotesque Frankenstein-like being sleeping on the metal table.

"Riley, meet Adam."

* * *

Riley Finn, your days are numbered. Any ideas on how he should die?

Please like and review!


	10. Chapter 10: The Oncoming Storm

Betaed by Danielle. 

My fic is now nominated at the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards!

Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards Nominee for the following categories:  
ROUND 30: Best New Author, Best Fluff, Best Original Character (Althea), and Best Unfinished

* * *

Buffy's birthday was full of surprises. The biggest surprise came when the Scooby gang threw her a surprise birthday party. Giles and Joyce were there as chaperones, enjoying the excitement on Buffy's face as she opened her presents from her friends.

The two older adults went out on a dinner date the next day and found Ethan Rayne nursing a drink at the restaurant's bar. The two British men greeted one another amicably, but when Ethan offered Giles a drink, Giles refused and dared Ethan to drink whatever he was offering. Ethan, of course, refused.

A while later, Giles got word that a Fyarl demon had been running through the streets of Sunnydale. While the demon had caused no damage or injuries - he really only left a few frightened residents in his wake - it became clear that Ethan had found another victim. Before the Scoobies could find him, though, the Fyarl was captured by the Initiative...only to turn back into a human after one of the scientists stabbed it with a silver probe.

"Who is that?" Riley Finn asked as he looked into the cell of Hostile 19.

"Records list him as Andrew Wells," Forrest said. "No idea how he got turned into a demon. Should we let him out?"

"No. Keep him. He might still have some of the demon's abilities."

Forrest nodded and the two parted ways. Riley headed down the corridor leading to room 314, where he found Maggie Walsh standing over her masterpiece, analyzing it.

"How's Adam?" Riley asked the woman.

Maggie looked up. "We already gave it vampire blood, a werewolf's teeth, and the horns from that Fyarl demon will make perfect knee guards. But the left arm needs a weapon. Be on the lookout for anything useful, Agent Finn."

Riley nodded.

"Any progress on turning the Slayer to our side?"

Riley shook his head. "She's always with her friends or with her boyfriend or her mother. I haven't been able to get her alone, even when she's patrolling the cemeteries."

"She has psychology class tomorrow. We have to figure out how to get her alone, and get that redheaded friend of hers out of the way, but we will not take her hostage unless absolutely necessary."

"Yes, ma'am."

###

The next day, Maggie Walsh asked Buffy to stay after class.

"U-um, Professor Walsh?" Willow said. "Buffy and I were planning to-"

Riley interrupted Willow, distracting her with a question about a recent assignment and leading her out of the classroom. Buffy put her hands behind her back and twisted the Gem of Amara that she kept around her finger.

"What's up?" Buffy asked in a casual but cautious tone.

"I don't know if you know this, but I do a lot more than teach psychology," Maggie Walsh said.

"Actually, I do," Buffy said. "You're part of some military monster squad that rounds up demons, vampires - probably have some official-sounding euphemisms for them like hostile-"

"Hostile Sub-Terrestrials," Maggie verified cautiously.

"Yeah, that. So you're probably one of the lab coats who experiments on these HSTs. How am I doing so far?"

"Very well, Miss Summers. I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well, I ran into some of your commandos during my patrol a few months ago. I assume you know what I am, too."

"Only to a certain extent. You are the Slayer, which according to the research I've gathered, means that you have enhanced strength and agility that is used to destroy vampires and other demons."

Buffy nodded. "Pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. So what do you want with me?"

"I was hoping to give you a tour of the Initiative labs in the hopes that you might join up with us. We could use someone like you as a leader."

Buffy folded her arms. "Let's say I take this tour. What exactly do I have to gain if I join?"

"Well, for one thing, I could pull some strings around here at the university, maybe even get you a full scholarship. You wouldn't have to pay tuition for the duration of your time as a student here. And being in the Initiative can also lead to some lucrative job offers in the future. It has a lot of other benefits, too."

"I guess I can take your tour. Just know that I have plans to meet with my friends later tonight."

"Oh, I promise I won't keep you from your friends tonight."

Meanwhile, Willow had escaped from campus after dodging a lengthy conversation with Riley and ran as fast as she could to the Magic Box.

"Guys, Buffy's in trouble," Willow said.

"Hold the fire, Willow," Xander said. "I thought she was coming back from class with you?"

"She was, but Maggie held her after. I think she's gonna take Buffy to the Initiative."

Althea took out a large mirror from the inventory. "Mirror, reveal the heart of Buffy Summers at the moment."

The mirror projected its reflection on the wall so all could see, showing Buffy entering the Initiative labs, guided by Maggie. It was obvious that Buffy was hiding her disgust at what she saw. All around her, scientists were performing experiments, working with data and observing the demons they'd captured. Some of the demons were even laid out on gurneys, being cut to pieces while they were still conscious.

Maggie and the other scientists simply walked around the enormous laboratory, seemingly oblivious to the creatures' suffering.

"This is worse that I thought," Giles said as he glanced away, took off his glasses and cleaned them.

"I just hope Buffy's okay," Althea said, nodding in agreement.

The projection continued.

"I have a security card and pager in case you want to return to the facilities," Maggie said. "And your retinal scan and the recording of your voice will be kept on file."

"Thanks," Buffy said with a very neutral face. "I will definitely consider your offer."

Although Buffy wasn't in the room, Althea was able to focus her mind on Buffy's heart. The ring on her finger turned black.

"Is Buffy really gonna consider their offer?" Anya asked.

Althea turned to Anya and shook her head. "My ring turned black. Buffy wants to stay as far away from that place as possible."

"W-w-we have plans to meet with her at the Bronze," Tara said. "She's probably gonna go there tonight."

Tara's statement turned out to be true as Buffy arrived at the Bronze, relieved at the sight of her friends. She spotted Spike, walked right up to him and wrapped the vampire in a hug so tight, it would have crushed the bones of a normal human being.

"Guys, I am so sorry it took me so long to get here," Buffy said after releasing the platinum blonde and glancing around at her friends.

"We know you went to the Initiative," Althea said. "I checked your heart."

"Then you should also know that I seriously hate that place," Buffy said. "But the good news is, at least I know where their building is now."

"Good," Anya said. "We can begin a plan of attack!"

"Not right now," Buffy said. "First I need to dance off the wiggins. Spike?"

With only a nod from Spike, Buffy led Spike out onto the dance floor and the two of them danced, their bodies close together with barely an inch between them.

"You alright, luv?" Spike asked.

"A world of no," Buffy said, shuddering. "It was one thing to see all that ick displayed in Althea's mirror projector, but seeing it in reality was a horse of a whole different color. As far as I know, other than vampires and the occasional snake demon or telepathic thingy, the demons I saw earlier weren't of the type that usually goes after humans."

"Yeah, from what we've researched, some demons aren't overly aggressive. They just have normal, everyday lives, came from other dimensions and happened to choose Hellmouths or big cities to blend in."

"Like Anya. If she was still a vengeance demon, I have no clue what they'd do to her." She took a deep breath as if clearing the thought. "And what about everyone else? Xander might get off scot-free because he's human, but Willow and Tara use magic, what about them? And Althea was captured there before, too."

"They can handle themselves, luv. If we come up with a plan, they can help us."

Buffy nodded. "And I know you'll help, too. I'm gonna need you now more than ever."

###

The next day, Riley had caught Buffy's eye as she walked out of one of her afternoon classes, and she hadn't been able to politely escape his attention before he'd sauntered her way.

"What do you want, Riley? I don't have Psychology today."

"I was hoping to tell Maggie about you accepting her offer," Riley said.

"Who said I was going to accept it?"

And with that, she turned in the opposite direction and started walking, not bothering to glance back at Riley's reaction. She was sure it wasn't a happy one.

After only a few steps, however, she felt a tug on her hand as the Gem of Amara slipped out. The last thing she remembered was an electric shock coursing through her body and a strong hand pulling her into an empty classroom.

###

A few hours later, everyone (sans Buffy) was at the Magic Box, wondering where Buffy was.

"She didn't come back to her dorm," Althea said.

"Nor was she with her mum," Spike said.

"I looked at all the usual campus places," Willow said. "No sign of Buffy."

"What are we gonna do?" Tara asked.

"Cast a locating spell, that's what," Willow said. She grabbed a spell book from one of the shelves, flipped through the pages until she found the spell she wanted, and got straight to work.

Giles and Tara stood back and watched the redhead as a series of bright red sparks flew from the girl's fingers onto the Initiative's blueprints.

"Okay, found her," Willow said after a few seconds. "Now we have to figure out how we're going to get in. I'm thinking we capture one of those soldiery guys so we have a way to get by the security scanners. We still have to be able to blend in, though. Giles, Tara, do you think you can help me with casting a glamour spell on everyone? We have to do it quick since the locator spell will only work for 24 hours."

Giles and Tara nodded, and the three set about casting magical disguises over themselves, Althea, Xander and Anya. As they were casting the spells, they worked out a plan to capture a commando, deciding it would be best to keep Spike looking like himself so he could be used as bait.

And when it came down to it, it was simple for the gang to find a commando. With Spike using himself, sans ring, as bait at Restfield Cemetery, they were able to trap Forrest, who was armed with a taser, after he attempted to attack the vampire. The soldier had no time to even react; he was struck over the head with a heavy book - by Anya, nonetheless - just as he was reaching toward Spike with the electric shocking device.

Anya peered down at the commando she'd just knocked out. "That was almost too easy," she said.

After using the limp Forrest to make their way through the retinal scanner, the Scoobies stashed the soldier in an empty office and grabbed a few lab coats off a coat rack near its door. They chose the stairs instead of the elevator, then quietly made their way inside the Initiative labs, blending in with the sea of lab coats, scientists and other commandos through the power of the glamour spell.

"Where do you think Buffy is?" Althea asked, her voice quiet enough to only be heard by the Scoobies.

"I don't know," Willow said.

Hearing an approaching set of footsteps, the seven of them quickly turned in a huddle and faced towards the wall as two scientists walked past them.

"How many of the men are out on the field?" one scientist asked the other. "The longer they go without their meds-"

"Professor Walsh has it under control," came the reply. "Finn's a bit shaken after that fight with the Polgara demon-"

"Make sure he's stabilized. He's the one I care about. He's too important to the work to lose now, and I swear I'll kill Maggie if we find out that he sustained any injuries."

Both scientists continued chatting as they walked down another corridor.

"Meds?" Anya asked suspiciously.

"Hmmm. It would seem that these soldiers might be taking some kind of physical enhancing drugs," Giles said.

"That means they're no better than athletes on steroids," Xander said. "And to think one of those guys is interested in Buffy."

The seven of them heard Buffy's voice from a distance "You give me my ring back!"

They fast-walked down the hall and emerged onto the top floor of a larger examination room. Peering over the rail onto the bottom floor, they found Buffy with sensors stuck all over her bare skin and wires extended to a series of machines nearby. Three soldiers surrounded her, though posing no threat as they were passed out on the side of the large mat that covered most of the bare cement floor. In the middle, Buffy and Riley stood facing each other, shoulders squared off and knees slightly bent as if ready to pounce.

"You take me off these machines and tell me what's in Room 314 or I swear to you-"

"What? What can you do to me? I took away your ring."

"Please. That was just the icing on the ass-kicking cake I'm about to hand you."

Buffy pulled at the wires, ripping the patches off of her body and privately relieved that she didn't peel off any skin in the process. Throwing them to the side, she proceeded to kick and punch Riley, relying on her innate Slayer speed and agility to dodge his strong, but much slower movements.

"Jeez, Riley, what are you made of, cardboard?" Buffy snarked. Spike chuckled quietly while the rest of the Scooby Gang watched in awe. Althea ran around the perimeter of the second floor overhang to a point where she was within Buffy's line of sight. Using her mirror, she reflected a light from the ceiling so it flashed into Buffy's peripheral vision.

Noticing the glare, Buffy looked up and saw her friends peering down from the upper floor and smiled. She delivered a quick blow to Riley's nose that knocked him out cold, then grabbed the Gem of Amara from the basket next to a metal detector he'd used on her.

As she moved to the outer perimeter of the bottom floor, the Scoobies realized there were a number of cells - some of them bearing prisoners inside - surrounding the main examination room. Using the access card Maggie gave her, Buffy unlocked the door to the cell holding Andrew Wells.

"I think I know you," Buffy said. "You're Tucker's brother, right?"

Andrew nodded. "Holy Xena Warrior Princess. You're Buffy!"

Buffy smiled. "Let's get you outta here."

Alarms started blaring, announcing that her activity had been witnessed on the security cameras, so Buffy and Andrew made quick work of running up the stairs to meet with the rest of the Scooby gang. Taking advantage of the chaos set off by the alarm, they were able to escape the Initiative and make it back to the Magic Box.

"Thanks for saving me, Buffy," Andrew said. "I kind of chose the wrong crowd to hang out with."

"Who were you with?" Buffy asked.

"Warren Mears. You know him, right?"

"Sort of," Willow said. "I think he was one of our classmates from Sunnydale High, but he transferred."

"Well, Warren told me I should take that drink from that old guy at the bar. I woke up the next day looking like some kind of two-legged ram. And no one could understand me even though I was screaming for help. After that, I just know I didn't have much of a good day."

"I think this Warren might be bad news if he knows Ethan," Giles said.

"Yeah," Xander said. "We'd better make sure that Andrew is kept safe in case Warren is out looking for him."

"For now, Andrew, you are welcome to work in the Magic Box as my assistant," Anya said. Then she started wagging her finger at the boy. "Just don't touch the cash register!"

###

Meanwhile, at the Initiative Hospital, Riley was asleep, laying on an operating table. Maggie Walsh looked over the footage from the alarm.

"What do you think, Maggie?" a scientist asked her.

"I think one of Miss Summers's acquaintances must've been a hostile that we captured," Maggie said. "Riley would've known if he was being followed and they wouldn't have known how to get here otherwise."

"So what do you think he should do?"

"Once we regulate Riley, I will ask him to see if any of Buffy's friends could be...persuaded to come here. If the Slayer can't join on her own, perhaps her friends can be used as leverage."

She walked into the operating room, carting in a table filled with various limbs and organs from demons.

"Alright, my boy, it's time you got an upgrade," Maggie said. 

* * *

Next chapter will involve another old friend. What will happen to Riley Finn? And is Warren Mears lurking somewhere in the shadows?

Please like and review!


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